Dragonfly in Amber

Content Warning: This Important Quotes section contains references to rape, sexual assault, and pregnancy loss.

“No, what made the whole thing so incomprehensible was that the names on Claire’s list had shown up—entire and complete—as part of the Master of Lovat’s regiment, sent late in the campaign to fulfill a promise of support made to the Stuarts by Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat. Yet, Claire had definitely said—and a glance at her original sheets confirmed it—that these men had all come from a small estate called Broch Tuarach, well to the south and west of the Fraser lands—on the border of the MacKenzie clan lands, in fact. More than that, she had said these men had been with the Highland army since the Battle of Prestonpans, which had occurred near the beginning of the campaign.”

Roger’s discovery that Jamie’s men are listed under the rolls of Lord Lovat foreshadows a moment later in the novel when Jamie discovers his grandfather added his own men to the Fraser rolls to stage a takeover of his lands at Lallybroch. This also illustrates how difficult it is to find information because of the lack of record keeping by the Scots and the English at the time. Finally, this quote shows Claire’s direct knowledge of the movements of these men, but hints that she doesn’t know what happened around the time of Culloden, foreshadowing the moment later in the novel when the reader learns Claire’s fate during that time.

“’Jonathan Wolverton Randall,’ she said softly. ‘1705-1746. I told you, didn’t I? You bastard, I told you!’ Her voice, so flat an instant before, was suddenly vibrant, filled with restrained fury.”

Claire reacts violently to Jack Randall’s tombstone, surprising those she is with as she acts out of character for a reason that they cannot understand. This foreshadows the story Claire has come to Iverness to tell her daughter and the role Jack Randall plays in it.

“‘JAMES ALEXANDER MALCOLM MACKENZIE FRASER,’ she read aloud. ‘Yes, I know him.’ Her hand dropped lower, brushing back the grass that grew thickly about the stone, obscuring the line of smaller letters at its base. ‘Beloved husband of Claire,’ she read. ‘Yes, I knew him, she said again, so softly Roger could scarcely hear her. ‘I’m Claire. He was my husband.’ She looked up then, into the face of her daughter, white and shocked above her. ‘And your father,’ she said.”

Claire’s revelation is spoken is in the year 1968 while the grave is marked 1746. This moment represents the opportunity Claire has been waiting for to explain to her daughter how she came to be conceived by a man who has been dead more than 200 years.