Dragonfly in Amber

Claire and Jamie settle in Jared’s house in Paris. Jared takes Jamie around to meet his clients, employees, and important acquaintances. Jamie tells Claire that the best way to stop Charles from starting a rebellion in Scotland is to keep him from raising the money he will need. He plans to befriend Charles but to also go behind his back to discourage bankers and financers from supporting Charles. Jamie meets Charles and, a short time later, is invited to meet King Louis XV. The king is impressed with Jamie. Jamie tells Claire that he is worried about their ability to stop Charles, but he’s doing it for his people back in Scotland because he feels he owes them as the owner of Lallybroch.

Jamie’s daily life is filled with Jared’s business, but Claire finds her days to be empty, so Jamie puts her to work on his ledgers. They receive a visit one day from a merchant named Hawkins from England. Mr. Hawkins also reveals that his niece, Mary, is coming to Paris for an arranged marriage. Claire realizes she knows the name Mary Hawkins because she is the woman Jack Randall was meant to marry and have a son with. When Claire tells Jamie this, it causes him to worry that Jack Randall is not dead as he was previously told. This leads to nightmares derived from the physical and sexual torture he endured at the hands of Jack Randall.

Claire visits an herbalist’s shop to buy ingredients for a sleep potion for Jamie. She meets Monsieur Raymond, a small, froglike man whom she discovers is taking advantage of many of his customers with fake potions. While Claire is in the shop, the Vicomtesse de Rambeau comes in angry and demanding a poison for a rival. Raymond provides her with a potion that is designed to only make the victim sick. He gives it for free because the woman is damaging his shop in anger and tells Claire he will charge her double when she returns the following month to get a potion to end her pregnancy.

Claire commissions a red dress for a party at Versailles. Jamie is not pleased with how revealing the dress is, but Claire points out it is much more modest than the current fashion dictates. Left alone at the party, Claire is surrounded by men she must constantly bat away with her fan. At one point, Claire slips into a quiet alcove to take off her shoes and is encroached on by a brazen man. Jamie catches them and drags the man into a fountain.

Jamie and Claire are invited to remain at Versailles for the night. While dressing the following morning, they receive an invitation to lunch. Claire becomes ill at lunch due to her pregnancy, and leaves to vomit in the garden. Jamie comes out to aid her. Moments later, the rest of the guests come out into the garden and are joined by new arrivals. Claire recognizes one of the new arrivals as Jack Randall, despite having been told he is dead. She feels Jamie become tense beside her and attempts to calm him, but the combination of morning sickness and tension causes her to faint.

When Claire wakes, she is surrounded by concerned people, including the king and the man she thought was Jack Randall. It turns out he is Alexander Randall, secretary to the Duke of Sandringham. He is Jack Randall’s younger brother. That night, Claire expects Jamie to have trouble sleeping due to this encounter, however, she is the one who has difficult dreams. She dreams of Frank Randall, her first husband. He is lecturing a history class and explaining why many of the artifacts that historians discover or read about in regard to past civilizations are often decorative because it is the image people wish to leave behind.

Jamie and Claire attend a party at the home of Louise de Rohan. Claire is immediately recruited to join an impromptu choir organized by the king’s singing-master. While waiting for the choir to begin practicing, she is introduced to Mary Hawkins, Frank’s ancestor.

Later, Jamie spots Annalise de Marillac, someone he knew when he lived in Paris years before. He tells Claire that he fought his first duel over Annalise with a man named Charles Gauloise at the Bois de Boulogne. Jamie describes the duel and how Annalise married Charles a few days later, breaking his heart. When Claire expresses jealousy over Annalise, Jamie reassures her that he never loved Annalise the way he loves her.

The next day, after spending the afternoon with friends, Claire comes home to ask Jamie what he would think of her volunteering at a nearby hospital, L’Hôpital des Anges. Jamie becomes angry at the idea because the hospital is in a bad area and filled with sick people. He thinks Claire is disregarding the safety of their unborn child. They argue for a time with Claire explaining that she is bored with her day-to-day life. She asks Jamie to think about it.

Late that night, Jamie and Claire are in bed discussing baby names when they hear a voice calling for Jamie through the fireplace. Jamie drags a young man into the room through the window. It turns out to be Charles Stuart. He has been bitten by a monkey and is running from his mistress’, Louise de Rohan, home in an attempt not to be caught by her husband. The following day, Claire goes to visit Louise. Together they are tended to by Louise’s groomer who removes Claire’s arm and leg hairs. Jamie is shocked.