Edward becomes confused by the battle and wanders away from its center. He finds a local hamlet where he hopes to find a horse but instead finds a tavern full of English soldiers. As he attempts to escape, he runs into a local girl and her father who shelter him for the night. The next morning, news comes that the Highlanders have retreated and the English followed. A friend of the family suggests Edward should change out of his plaids and stay with him until the armies have fully disbanded. As he passes beyond the battlefield, he sees the dead men on the heath and thinks of Fergus’s death. When Edward goes to search the bodies, he cannot find Fergus. Edward returns to stay with the Englishman, and he continues to hear about the English victories over the Highlanders as they head north. Edward thinks of his friends in Scotland, philosophizing and feeling that “the romance of his life was ended” (543).

The Williams family whom Edward stays with becomes attached to him despite his lies about who he is. While he is staying with them, Edward learns that his father has died in London after being accused of high treason.