turn of events

I wonder what the conversation was like. Robert James' mother and father (Agnes and Robert Allen) had already died. I don't know about James Shanks, but Isabella Dickson was still alive. Had the two families corresponded over the years? Did James and Isabella say one day, "Well, Jennie hasn't found anyone in Scotland to marry, and she's not getting any younger. She's already 30. Why doesn't she marry your cousin Robert, in America? He's not getting any younger either, and he's 49 if he's a day. Our Jennie will be a great catch for him"? So they wrote to Robert and he wrote back and he traveled to Scotland to meet his bride-to-be, aka his cousin's old-maid daughter. And they got married and he brought her back to William's bachelor pad. How romantic is that?