Mary Hawkins
The “silly English child” was in fact very young; a girl of not more than fifteen, with dark, shiny ringlets, and cheeks flushed so hotly with embarrassment that she reminded me of a brilliant poppy. In fact, it was the cheeks that recalled her to me; the girl I had glimpsed in the garden at Versailles, just before the unsettling appearance of Alexander Randall (ch. 11).
This is the second encounter between Claire and Mary Hawkins. They are introduced at a social gathering by Louise de La Tour de Rohan. In a former post, I noted some resemblance between Claire and Mary: Mary Hawkins as a Mirrored Version of Claire. I guess curly hair is another trait they share. Of note is the colour of Mary’s cheeks. They remind Claire of a dress she used to have back in the twentieth century (at the same time this indirectly reminds her of Frank). Mary also has an interest in tending the sick even though she is sensitive about it.
The following passage foreshadows Mary’s love interest, Alexander Randall.
“Oh, he’s so handsome!” she enthused, her stammer entirely forgotten. “And so . . . well, so spiritual, as well.”
The characteristic of being “spiritual” is a reference to Mary being in love with Alexander Randall, a detail that the reader is not aware of at this stage. Of interest is how the kitchen-boys describe Mary, awkward, due to her stammer: “la petite Anglaise maladroite.” Of course, Alexander does not see anything awkward in her.
Faith’s Fate
Louise is pregnant with Charles’s child. She wants to abort him / her. She is asking Claire for advice about the use of an abortifacient. She remembers Master Raymond’s warning about the use of black hellebore: It is dangerous to wait too long (ch. 13). Subsequently, Claire starts remembering the unsuccessful abortion cases at the hospital. Here is the description of one of them.
. . . but the vision of a young servant-girl, dying in protracted, blood-smeared agony on a pallet spread in the stone hallway of L’Hôpital des Anges was brutally clear in my mind (ch. 13).
This passage foreshadows Claire miscarrying Faith. Basically, when the miscarriage takes place, Claire is no longer at an early stage of pregnancy, which places her at high risk of losing her own life.
Bouton, the Familiar
. . . The nuns considered him something between a mascot and a totem, while the junior priest from the cathedral next door, who had been bitten in the leg . . . confided to me his own opinion that Bouton was one of the lesser demons, disguised as a dog for his own fell purposes (ch. 12)
Claire started to accept this notion after Bouton was able to discover an inconspicuously infected spot in a patient with an injured leg. Could the explanation lie in the dog’s sense of smell? Do other characters ever consider Mother Hildergarde a witch? If you are interested more about familiars, here is an interesting link.
Who sent the men to kill Jamie?
Just before meeting Fergus, Jamie notices that some men wanted to murder him. Once he is safe at home, he recounts the incident to Claire. His speculations are a hint that the Comte is not involved in the incident.
“. . .The Comte’s a quick temper, but I canna see him going to the trouble and expense of killing either of us, only for revenge. If it might get him his ship back, then yes,” he added, “but as it is, I expect he’d only think the price of three hired assassins throwing good money after bad” (ch. 12).
Mother Hildegarde
Something that I would like to see on screen is the interaction between Jamie and Claire when she reveals to him that she would like to offer her services at L’Hôpital de Anges. He initially objects to it. I guess it is related to the fact that he is already involved in deciphering Jacobite letters. Having Claire out of the house is dangerous.
Of interest is the main reason why Mother Hildegarde decided to be a nun. She explains to Claire that she is an admirer of St. Anselm, and that she “wished to be useful”(ch. 15).
“St. Anselm was a man of great wisdom and great learning, a Doctor of the Church. But also a bishop, a man who cared for the people of his flock, and looked after their temporal needs as well as those of the spirit. The story detailed all of his works, and then concluded in these words – ‘And so he died, at the conclusion of an eminently useful life, and thus obtained his crown in Paradise.'”. . . (ch. 15)
It seems that an unmarried life gave Mother Hildegarde the freedom she wanted to pursue her own interests.
James and his Son
Some of the questions that arise are whether James sent his son to look for allies and funds that would help him get the throne or whether Charles is acting on his own. Jamie emphasises that Charles is of value to King Louis as long as the Stuarts are seeking to rule Scotland:
“For once James admits openly that the Stuarts will never rule Scotland again,” Jamie added softly, “then he has no more value to Louis” (ch. 15).
What the readers know about James is that he has no interest in the throne. The loan from Manzetti of Salerno is supposed to be used for Charles’s living expenses in Paris. James’s wife had money but she gave everything to the church instead. I tend to think that James is actually seeking restoration. He does not do it openly, though. He does not write about it in the letters since they are intercepted and read by everybody. This is further demonstrated by the fact the Louise tells Claire that Charles is willing to marry her once he becomes king. However, Jamie offers an alternate explanation. Basically, James has asked his son to pretend about starting a restoration in order to gain Louis’s favour. However, Charles is not pretending. According to the Comtesse de Brabant Louis is not pleased about his cousin’s arrival in Paris (ch. 16):
. . . “He has been heard to say that England can stay Protestant, so far as he himself is concerned,” she confided . . . (ch. 16)
Obviously, it looks at this stage that the Stuarts are of no value to Louis. I also discussed in a former post that France does not have much money as demonstrated by the foreign merchants leaving the country after taxes were increased. At the same time, the reader is aware that Louise de La Tour de Rohan is the paramour of Prince Charles. Her husband’s family is close to the King. Is Louis aware of this affair? If all these factors are taken into consideration, they are the main reason why the Jacobite funds sent by France did not reach Scotland on time.
Miscellaneous Quotes
“Besides, it doesna become me to be takin’ a high moral stand about other people’s behaviour. Stealing letters and spying and trying generally to subvert a man my family holds as King? I shouldna like to have someone judging me on the grounds of the things I’m doing, Sassenach.”
Jamie prefers not to say anything about Louise’s pregnancy, somebody who is imposing an illegitimate child on her husband. The passage demonstrates that Jamie is willing to undertake an improper course of action in order to achieve something noble. This is probably one of Jamie’s most attractive characteristics.
“And, Sassenach,” he whispered, “your face is my heart.”
I guess this line attracts readers who like the romantic elements of the series. Jamie makes this comment to Claire after telling her the story about his former infatuation with Annalise de Marillac.
. . . Surprised by his sudden appearance, it was just beginning to dawn on me that it would save everyone a great deal of trouble in the long run, if this young man would succumb gracefully to some quick and deadly disease. . .(ch. 11)
This is another of those assessment in which the death of Charles of Stuart could change the events of history. Claire is thinking about this for the third time. She opts to treat Charles’s injured arm.
I had a sudden vision of that fine-boned hand held squirming on a block, with a executioner’s blade raised above the broomstick wrist. I gulped, forcing down the sudden lurch of my stomach. Fergus wore a small greenish copper medal on a string about his neck; the image of St. Dismas, I hoped (ch. 13).
This passage foreshadows what will happen to Fergus in Voyager. If I remember correctly I think it is Jamie, hidden in the cave, who has the vision of Fergus’s hand being cut while the event is actually taking place. Jamie realizes that he is endangering everybody at Lallybroch and decides to give himself to the English to keep his family and tenants safe.
“I will see you to your door, Madame,” he declared. “This section of the city is much too dangerous in the evening hours for you to be abroad with no more than a child for protection.”
This is the explanation that Monsier Forez gives Claire when offering her a ride home. He is fully right. In later chapters Mary and Claire will be assaulted by masked men. Of note is the fact that they were not only accompanied by a boy, Fergus, but also by a man, Murtagh. Monsieur Forez also makes a reference to les disciples du mal.
“D’ye know, Sassenach, I never ’til tonight realized just how difficult it must ha’ been for my father to beat me? I always thought it was me had the hardest part of that particular transaction.” . . . “Being a father might be a bit more complicated than I’d thought. I’ll have to think about it” (ch. 14).
This is a comment that Jamie makes to Claire about whipping Fergus. This is the beginning of Jamie seeing Fergus as a son. The passage also foreshadows the subsequent conflicts he will have with Brianna (because of Roger MacKenzie) and William.
Sources
Gabaldon, Diana. Dragonfly in Amber. New York: Bantam Dell, 1993. Print.