Guy Mannering: Or, The Astrologer

"The hero, Harry Bertram, son of the Laird of Ellangowan, is kidnapped as a boy by the smuggler Dirk Hatteraick and carried off to Holland. Hatteraick is acting in league with the Bertrams' lawyer, Gilbert Glossin, who hopes to acquire the family property in the absence of a male heir. Adopted by a Dutch merchant, Bertram is kept in ignorance of his true identity and brought up under the name Vanbeest Brown. Upon reaching adulthood, he travels to India and enlists in the army under Colonel Guy Mannering. Mannering, an enthusiastic amateur astrologer, has in a previous guise visited the Bertrams' castle of Ellangowan, and predicted the newborn Harry's future. Bertram falls in love with Mannering's daughter, Julia, but Mannering imagines that the attentions paid to his daughter are intended for his wife. He challenges Bertram to a duel, seriously wounds him, and leaves him for dead. On recovery, Bertram finds that Julia has returned to Britain. In disguise, he follows her to the neighbourhood of Ellangowan. Glossin, now sole owner of Ellangowan, detects his true identity, and again plots with Hatteraick to abduct him. However, Meg Merrilies, Bertram's gypsy nurse, recognizes him too, and with the help of Bertram and Dandie Dinmont (a Lowland farmer whom Bertram has rescued from footpads), attempts to thwart their scheme. This she succeeds in doing but at the expense of her own life. As a result of her efforts, Bertram is acknowledged, regains his estates, and marries Julia."--Http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk