We Loved Once and True I

Red Dead Redemption 2

Mission 12 of 24

Started by Mary

Horseshoe Overlook, New Hanover

Available after Paying a Social Call and Money Lending and Other Sins I and II; can be played in a different order

By Joseph Lambert · Updated October 29, 2026

"We Loved Once and True I" is a story mission of Red Dead Redemption 2 in Chapter 2: Horseshoe Overlook. It takes place at the gang's camp at Horseshoe Overlook and opens the strand of Mary Linton, Arthur Morgan's former fiancée, whose third part is optional. It becomes available after Paying a Social Call and the first two parts of Money Lending and Other Sins. This guide lists it twelfth of the chapter's 24 missions, which can be played in a different order.

Susan Grimshaw tells Arthur that a letter has come for him from Mary, who is in Valentine. Arthur reads it in his tent: Mary asks to see him and gives him the address of the room she rents at Chadwick Farm.

Map of the area around Horseshoe Overlook, with the mission's starting point marked — Starting pointMission marker: Mary

Location: The gang's camp at Horseshoe Overlook, the Heartlands, New Hanover
Unlocks: We Loved Once and True II, the visit to Chadwick Farm; one of the missions required for Pouring Forth Oil I, with Polite Society, Valentine Style and The First Shall Be Last

Started by

Mary is not seen in this part: her letter reaches Arthur through Susan Grimshaw, and she is heard reading it.

Characters

Strauss appears only if Money Lending and Other Sins III has not been played yet.

Story

News from Valentine

At the Horseshoe Overlook camp, Susan Grimshaw tells Arthur that Mary Linton has sent him a letter from Valentine. One of the girls of the camp brought it back: Mary had recognized her in town as a member of the gang, learned that the gang was camped nearby and asked her to deliver the letter to Arthur.

Arthur and Mary were engaged when they were young; her family, her father most of all, disapproved of the engagement. It ended before 1899 because Arthur would not leave the outlaw life. Arthur is surprised that Mary still wants to contact him after so many years apart.

Three women standing with their arms crossed in a camp clearing: an older woman in a red blouse, a young Black woman in a yellow skirt and a blonde woman in a long dark coat, a tent and pines behind them — Susan Grimshaw with Tilly Jackson and Karen Jones at the Horseshoe Overlook camp.

Mary's letter

Arthur goes to his tent to read the letter, and Mary's voice is heard as he reads it.

Dear Arthur, I've written this letter a hundred times or more and I cannot get it right. It's me. You know it's me from the bad handwriting. I know I said when we last spoke and I was going off to get married, that we would not speak again. I know I said a lot of things and I meant them, I suppose, at the time, but I am not so proud as to not speak to people who care for me, or cared for me. I've been in Valentine for a couple of months. I had some bad luck and, well, it's a long story and not an interesting one, but I am here for now. I saw a couple of the girls, or whatever the polite term for them, that ran with you and your associates in town and I heard tell of a man who sounded like you. I would love to see you again if you could spare me a little bit of your time. I'm renting a room at Chadwick Farm, just north of Valentine. Yours, Mary Linton.
Mary Linton's letter, in full

A handwritten letter held in a gloved hand, ending with the address of Chadwick Farm, just north of Valentine, and the signature Mary Linton — The end of the letter: a room at Chadwick Farm, just north of Valentine, signed Mary Linton.

After the letter

Arthur stays lost in thought for a while after reading it. He can then ride to Chadwick Farm, north of Valentine, to see Mary: the meeting is We Loved Once and True II.

If Money Lending and Other Sins III has not been played yet, Leopold Strauss asks Arthur, once he has read the letter, whether he is all right. Arthur answers: "Yes. I was miles away I'm afraid." Strauss brings up Thomas Downes, the farmer who borrowed a large sum and does not seem to intend to pay it back, and Arthur promises to pay him a visit. Money Lending and Other Sins III then starts straight away and cannot be abandoned.

Choices and variants

Order of play

The letter becomes available once Paying a Social Call and Money Lending and Other Sins II are complete.
Reading the letter before Money Lending and Other Sins III adds the scene with Strauss and starts that mission at once.
Pouring Forth Oil I requires this mission, as well as Polite Society, Valentine Style and The First Shall Be Last.

A missable third part

The second part, the visit to Chadwick Farm, is one of the missions required for The Sheep and the Goats. The third part is optional and can be missed: in part II, Arthur can refuse Mary's request, or let the moment pass without answering; either way the third part is lost.

Trivia

Mary signs this first letter "Mary Linton", her married name; she was born Mary Gillis. Her later letters are signed "Mary".
The letter is one of the game's documents and can be taken from Arthur's tent in chapter 2.
Susan, who brings Arthur the news, does not like Mary and can tell him so more than once in camp, which annoys him.