The wedding ended, hurriedly, on a surge of masculine bonhomie and relief. Five minutes later, followed by the red-eyed glares of their womenfolk, Buccleuch and his friends and his new-married son had plunged off to join Lord Culter, head of the Crawfords, and Francis Crawford his brother, to fight the English once more. * Sentimentally, Will Scott thought, it made his wedding-day perfect. Cantering, easy and big-limbed, through the bracken of Ettrick-side, with leaves stuck, lime-green and scarlet on his wet sleeves, blue eyes narrowed and fair, red-blooded Scott face misted with rain, he was borne on a vast, angry joy.
The wedding concluded quickly amid a sense of masculine camaraderie and relief, with Buccleuch, his friends, and his newlywed son hurriedly heading off to join Lord Culter and Francis Crawford to continue their fight against the English. The womenfolk's stern looks followed them, highlighting a stark contrast between the men's hardy support for the cause and the emotional undercurrent of the wedding day.
"Sentimentally, Will Scott thought, it made his wedding-day perfect," capturing his feeling of unrestrained joy as he rode through the rain-soaked landscape. His physical description—cantering through bracken, with leaves on his clothes and a mixture of anger and happiness—illustrates his passionate, spirited nature amid the tumult of his life and loyalties.
