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• The Betrothed

  On February 4, 1826 Lyon begins reading Sir Walter Scott’s _The Betrothed_ (published in 1825), a novel set during Henry II reign over England. The publishers were not enthusiastic about the novel and insisted on major revisions to the text. Ballantyne apparently found the novel “tiresome” which led Scott to continue revising with hopes of a more successful end result (Walter Scott Digital Archive, Edinburgh University Library). Ballantyne and Constable finally suggested that the novel should be published with Scott's next and, in their opinion, superior novel, _The Talisman_ (Walter Scott Digital Archive, Edinburgh University Library). Both novels were published together under the title, _Tales of the Crusaders_, in 1825. ( http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/works/novels/betrothed.html) As Lyon’s diary attests, _The Betrothed_ was a success. On several occasions Lyon remains up late at night reading this novel. While he neglects to comment on its content, continues to give it his close attention. Once rescued from a Welsh siege, the sixteen-year-old Eveline is rescued by Damian Lacy nephew of her betrothed. The novel’s action is focused around a love plot, kidnappings, romance, and chivalry and energizes the culture’s fascination with Crusade narratives which Scott helped to popularize in several of his novels. One wonders if Lyon would have read Scott's wildly successful _Ivanhoe_ (1820), another Crusade romance featuring a love triangle between two Anglo-Saxons and a Jewess. These types of medieval romances continued to be popular by writers like Benjamin Disraeli and Charlotte Tonna.