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36ef7e2
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Who was she?
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Diana Gabaldon |
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bde390a
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Her name was Geneva Dunsany," Grey said. "My wife's sister."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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02fcb55
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Your wife?" I said, goggling at him. He flushed deeply and looked away. If I had been in any doubt about the nature of the look I had seen him give Jamie, I wasn't any longer."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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5a0e2eb
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He raised one brow, cool and reserved; he had been shocked, too, but the shock was wearing off. "I cannot see that I am under any particular obligation to do so," he said."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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a308ba9
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Right. You're not. But I would appreciate it very much if you did. And why did you show me the picture if you didn't mean me to know?" I added. "Since I know that much, I'll certainly find out the rest from Jamie. You might as well tell me your side of it now."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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84b99d3
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I will," I said promptly, "and I strongly suggest you have some, too. I expect you need it as much as I do." A slight smile showed briefly at the corner of his mouth. "Is that a medical opinion, Mrs. Malcolm?"
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Diana Gabaldon |
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465f27d
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Father to son. And with that thought, all the disconnected, fragmentary, scattered fancies in his brain dropped suddenly into a single, vivid image: Jamie Fraser, seen from the back, looking over the horses in the paddock at Helwater. And beside him, standing on a rail and clinging to a higher one, William, Earl of Ellesmere. The alert cock of their heads, the set of their shoulders, the wide stance--just the same.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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4cce68b
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quite suddenly, Grey knew what to say. "Queen's knight," he said quietly. "To queen two." It was, he knew, a dangerous opening. Fraser didn't move, but Grey felt his sideways glance. After an instant's hesitation, he replied, "King's knight to bishop two," and Grey felt his heart lighten. It was the answer to the Torremolinos Gambit, the one he had used on that far-off, disastrous evening at Ardsmuir, when he had first laid his hand on Jami..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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a8895b5
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That was the first time that he ever touched me willingly," he said quietly. "And the last--until this evening, when I gave him the other copy of that miniature."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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8b0a410
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Do you know--" he began, then stopped. He looked down at his clenched hands, then, not at me. A blue stone winked on one knuckle, bright as a teardrop."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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603d923
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But do you think he foresaw that Twelvetrees would call him out? Well, yes, I suppose he did," Hal answered himself. "Twelvetrees couldn't do otherwise. But does Fraser want this duel?" Grey saw what his brother was getting at and shook his head. "You mean that we might be doing him a favor by preventing his fighting. No." He smiled affectionately at his brother and put down his cup. "It's simple, Hal. Put yourself in his place, and think w..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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4baea9a
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He thought of that now and wondered briefly just what Jamie Fraser would do, if made the recipient of some particularly florid sentiment of a personal nature, with Grey safely out of neck-breaking range. The thought made him grin.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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e2bdd34
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I suppose I am asking whether you believe in fate," Lord John went on. The ghost of a smile wavered on his face. "You, of all people, would seem best suited to say."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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f21879a
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He put a hand flat on the counter, as though to steady himself. "I have--bad news." "I can see that," I said, a little tartly. "Sit down, for God's sake, before you fall down." He shook his head like a horse shaking off flies and looked at me. His face was ghastly, shocked and white, and the rims of his eyes showed red."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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9e6db0a
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Don't let characters talk pointlessly--they only talk if there's something to say.
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sex
writing
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Diana Gabaldon |
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8f3a841
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circumspect. I
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Diana Gabaldon |
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1d1df78
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Jamie Fraser looked across the field to where Twelvetrees stood with his two companions, then looked soberly down at Grey. "He must not live. Ye may trust me to see to that." "If he kills me, you mean," Grey said. The electricity that ran in little jolts through his veins had settled now to a fine constant hum. He could hear his heartbeat, thumping in his ears, fast and strong. "I'm much obliged to you, Mr. Fraser." To his astonishment, Fra..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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6bd7ee1
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A shy smile touched the corner of his mouth, and he hitched himself up against the pillow. "I ... am not quite sure, to tell you the truth. Perhaps it is only an effort to reconcile my memories of last night with the ... er ... actuality of the experience?" I felt a sharp jolt, as though he had punched me in the chest. He couldn't have known my first thoughts on waking and seeing him--that sharp, disorienting flash when I had thought he was..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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2c4bbd4
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Or perhaps it is curiosity," he said, smiling a little more broadly. "I have not seen a naked woman in some time,"
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Diana Gabaldon |
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20371b6
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How long is some time? Fifteen years, you said?" "Oh, a good deal longer than that. Isobel--" He stopped abruptly, the smile vanishing. He hadn't mentioned his dead wife before. "You never saw her naked?" I asked, with more than idle curiosity. He turned his face away a little, eyes cast down. "Ah ... no. It wasn't ... She did not ... No." He cleared his throat, then raised his eyes, looking into mine with an honesty raw enough to make me w..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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6aacc60
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I only wondered ... have you ... been quite alone all this time? Since your wife died?
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Diana Gabaldon |
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58e7f27
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He sighed, but smiled to let me know he didn't mind the question. "If you really must know, I have for many years enjoyed a physical relationship with my cook."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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9c4e06f
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John himself seemed to be considering the matter, lips pursed. He had a heavy beard, I saw; the blond stubble softened his features and at the same time gave me an odd feeling of strangeness--I had so seldom seen him less than perfectly shaved and groomed. "No. There is ... no sense of possession in it," he said finally."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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9f5c882
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At the plantation," he said, ignoring me, "there is a large open space at the rear of the house. It was a small clearing at first, and over the years I have enlarged it and finally made a lawn of it, but the edge of the clearing runs up to the trees. In the evenings, quite often, deer come out of the forest to feed at the edges of the lawn. Now and then, though, I see a particular deer. It's white, I suppose, but it looks as though it's mad..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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5e80ee9
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You, um, don't ... talk in bed?" I said, striving for delicacy. His mouth twitched, and he looked away. "No." We lay in silence for a few moments, examining the ceiling. "Have you ever?" I blurted. "Have I what?" "Had a lover that you talked to." He cut his eyes at me. "Yes. Perhaps not quite so frankly as I find myself talking to you, but, yes." He opened his mouth as though to say or ask something further, but instead breathed in, shut hi..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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9fdef09
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The simple act of writing Fraser's name had given him a sense of connexion, and he realized that the desperate need for such connexion was what had driven him to write it.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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5e12f7a
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His heart was beating faster. Everett's perfume was his accustomed musk and myrrh; the scent of it conjured tumbled linens, and the touch of hard and knowing hands.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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00af428
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You underestimate your own merits, John--as always. Of course, nothing becomes manly virtue more than simple modesty.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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0709e7a
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Grey was still in his shirtsleeves; the rain had cut through the cloth to his flesh.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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b0ede50
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John stood waiting, shivering, as the sound of hooves and voices went past. Who might it be? Not soldiers; there was no sound of brass, no jingling spurs or arms. The sounds faded, and Jamie turned back. He frowned, noticing for the first time that Grey was wet through, and, taking the cloak from his shoulders, wrapped it round him. The cloak was damp, too, but made of wool, and Jamie's body heat lingered in it. Grey closed his eyes for an ..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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94fdb0e
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To my surprise, it was Lord John. But a Lord John I had never seen before. He was not so much disheveled as shattered, everything in order save his face. "What?" I said, deeply alarmed. "What's happened?"
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Diana Gabaldon |
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bfa4fbf
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Dialogue doesn't take place in a vacuum. Dialogue is contradictory, in that it can either speed up or slow down a passage.
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sex
writing
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Diana Gabaldon |
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40a53cd
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Euterpe," he blurted, and I stopped dead, jarred to the backbone. "What?" I whispered. "What?" "Lost," he said, in a voice that wasn't his own. "Lost. With all hands." "No," I said, trying for reason. "No, it's not." He looked at me directly then, for the first time, and seized me by the forearm. "Listen to me," he said, and the pressure of his fingers terrified me. I tried to jerk away but couldn't. "Listen," he said again. "I heard it thi..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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4f043a2
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He took a deep breath, shut his eyes, and commended his soul to God. "I have had carnal knowledge of your wife," he blurted. He had expected to die more or less instantaneously upon this utterance, but everything continued just as usual. Birds continued chirping in the trees, and the rip and slobber of the horses champing grass was the only sound above that of the rushing water. He opened one eye to find Jamie Fraser standing there regardin..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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7bb0935
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Grey took three steps back and watched as two little boys rushed out of the crowd, their faces bloated with fright, and ran off up the street.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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24744e6
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May I come in? I wish to talk to you." "Yes, I suppose you do." If I hadn't known both his fathers, I would have marveled at his ability to suppress the rage and confusion he had so clearly exhibited a quarter of a hour ago. Jamie did it by instinct, John by long experience--but both of them had an iron power of will, and whether William's was bred in the bone or acquired by example, he most assuredly had one. "Shall I send for something?" ..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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3705671
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My father," he said abruptly. "Pa--Lord John, I mean. He knew--knows?" "Yes." Thin ice again. I didn't think he had any idea that Lord John had married Isobel principally for his sake--and Jamie's--but didn't want him going anywhere near the question of Lord John's motives."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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07479d7
|
All of them," I said firmly, "all four of them; they wanted what was best for you." "Best for me," he repeated bleakly. "Right." His knuckles had gone white again, and he gave me a look through narrowed eyes that I recognized all too well: a Fraser about to go off with a bang. I also knew perfectly well that there was no way of stopping one from detonating but had a try anyway, putting out a hand to him. "William," I began. "Believe me--" "..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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502089c
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oh, wait." Turning, he seized the wig he'd taken off earlier from his desk and thrust it into Grey's hands. "Disguise," he said, and smiled briefly. "You rather take the eye, John. Best if people don't notice you on the street." He snatched up the hat and crammed it on his own bare head, then unlocked the door and pulled it open, impatiently gesturing Grey ahead of him."
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Diana Gabaldon |
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dee052f
|
THE WIG WOULD have been much too large, given Malcolm's round-headed resemblance to an oversize muskmelon, but Grey's own hair--yellow and noticeable, as Malcolm had so tactfully noted--was thick, and with it stuffed up inside the wig, the horsehair contrivance sat securely, if uncomfortably. He hoped that Malcolm didn't suffer from lice but forgot such minor concerns as he made his way through the throngs of people in the street outside La..
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Diana Gabaldon |
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a45a0ff
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I was of an age, after all, where ... Well, on the other hand, he presumably didn't have the same instinctive reactions that the majority of men did, in terms of feminine attractions. Which rather left open the question ... "Why?"
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Diana Gabaldon |
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9b01315
|
He was actually capable of dressing himself, though both he and Tom acted on the tacit assumption that he wasn't. But what he missed most at the moment was the sense of solemn ceremony that attended Tom's dressing him in full uniform. It was as though he assumed a different persona with scarlet coat and gold lace, Tom's respect giving him belief in his own authority, as though he put on not only uniform but armor and office.
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Diana Gabaldon |
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da7b4a7
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You don't mind, if he ... takes other lovers? Or he you, come to that?
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Diana Gabaldon |
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36cba45
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It occurred to me--belatedly, as so many things did these days--that John's intimate memories belonged to him, as well. "I didn't mean to pry," I said apologetically. He smiled faintly, but with real humor. "I am flattered, madam, that you should entertain an interest in me. I know many more ... conventional marriages in which the partners remain by preference in complete ignorance of each other's thoughts and histories."
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Diana Gabaldon |