David Balfour: Being Memoirs of his Adventures at home and Abroad, The Second Part: In which are set forth his Misfortunes anent the Appin Murder; his Troubles with Lord Advocate Grant; Captivity on the Bass Rock; Journey into Holland and France; and Singular Relations with James More Drummond or MacGregor, a Son of the notorious Rob Roy, and his Daughter Catriona is a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. As the title mentions, it's the second part of the story begun in the more famous Kidnapped.
It's commonly referred to as Catriona for short, rather than David Balfour (although some editions do use the latter title), because both books are about David Balfour but only this one is about Catriona.
This sequel picks up immediately where the previous novel left off: young David Balfour has been recognised as the heir to the estate of Shaws and come into money, but his friend, the rebel Alan Breck Stewart, is being sought in connection with the Appin Murder and needs to flee the country. David's sense of honour drives him to try and clear Alan's name, which leads to a series of misadventures and the acquaintance of the eponymous Catriona MacGregor — which, due to David's lack of experience when it comes to dealing with women, leads to even more misadventures.
This novel contains examples of:
- Distant Finale: The final scene of the novel reveals that the entire thing (and possibly the previous novel as well) has been narrated by an older David to his children. He then reminds his children that they've met some of the people in the story, in the process telling the reader what became of those characters.
- Historical Character's Fictional Relative: James Mor MacGregor is a real historical figure, but although he had several documented daughters, Catriona is a fictional creation.
- Historical Domain Character: David meets a bunch of historical figures, mainly in the part of the novel concerning the fallout from the Appin Murder (which itself was a real historical event). James Mor MacGregor was a real person, as was Alan Breck Stewart.
- Honor Before Reason: One of David's defining characteristics. He insists on trying to clear Alan's name, even though it won't make much difference to Alan and will only cause trouble for himself. It also hampers his developing relationship with Catriona, as his determination not to take advantage of her or go any further than she wants, combined with his inability to pick up her hints, inadvertently convinces her that he's not into her at all.
- Immediate Sequel: Kidnapped ends with David visiting a bank where he can cash a letter of credit. Catriona begins as he leaves the bank with his money.
- Mutual Pining: Due to a series of misunderstandings, David and Catriona spend the last part of the novel hopelessly in love with each other, but each convinced that the other isn't interested.
- Named in the Sequel: In Kidnapped, one of the people who help David and Alan when they're on the run is a young woman who works at an inn; her name is not mentioned in that novel, but when she reappears in Catriona it's revealed to be Alison Hastie.
- "Near and Dear" Baby Naming: At the end of the novel, David and Catriona have two children, who are named Alan and Barbara, after the two friends who helped their parents get together.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: David has a marked tendency to say precisely the wrong thing whenever talking to an attractive lady. It inspires his friend Barbara Grant to several witty remarks about the culinary presentation of his feet, but has a more damaging effect with Catriona, who doesn't know him well enough to see past what he says to what he's trying to say.
- Relatively Flimsy Excuse: When David and Catriona are travelling together trying to reunite her with her father, David tells people that she's his sister because it would scandalous for her to be travelling unchaperoned with a man she's not related to.
- Short Title: Long, Elaborate Subtitle: David Balfour: Being Memoirs of his Adventures at home and Abroad, The Second Part: In which are set forth his Misfortunes anent the Appin Murder; his Troubles with Lord Advocate Grant; Captivity on the Bass Rock; Journey into Holland and France; and Singular Relations with James More Drummond or MacGregor, a Son of the notorious Rob Roy, and his Daughter Catriona
