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"But you told Frances—you promised her that no one would take advantage of her. And I could have sworn she believed you!"
"Aye," Jamie said quietly. He picked up the piece of rock maple and his knife, and began mechanically cutting slivers. "Aye, I thought so, too—hoped so, at least."
I sat still, watching him.
"I suppose it was foolish," I said at last. "To think that reassurances and promises would be enough. I imagine we don’t know the half of what she saw, being raised in a brothel like a—a prize calf."
"And one knowing it was bound for slaughter?" he put in quietly. "Aye."
We lapsed into a strained silence, both thinking of Fanny. After a few moments, Jamie’s hands resumed their work, slowly, and a few moments later, he glanced at me.
"How many times did ye tell me Jack Randall was dead, Sassenach? How many times did I tell myself that?" The wood shavings fell in small, fragrant curls around his feet. "Some ghosts dinna leave ye easily—and ye ken fine that it’s her sister who’s haunting wee Frances."
"I suppose you’re right," I said unhappily. It wasn’t quite a shiver that I felt at mention of Jane—but a cold sadness that seemed to sink through my skin. "But surely there’s something we can do to help?"
"I expect there is." He set the cleaned stick of wood aside, and bent to sweep the shavings onto a sheet of paper. "Were we in reach of a priest, I should have a Mass said for the repose of her sister’s soul, to start with. If I can find one in Wilmington, we’ll do that. But otherwise… I’ll speak to Roger Mac about it." His mouth twisted wryly.
"I daresay Presbyterians dinna believe in exorcism, or prayers for the dead, either. But he’s a canny man, and he kens the heart; he may call it something else, but he’ll know what I mean—and he can speak wi’ Frances, and pray for her, I’m sure."
He shook the wood shavings into the fire, where they caught at once, curling into brightness and sending up a clean, sweet smoke. I came to stand behind him, watching them burn, and put my hands on his shoulders, warm and solid under my fingers. He leaned his head back against me and sighed, closing his eyes as he relaxed in the warmth. I bent my head and kissed the whorl of the cowlick on his crown.
"Mmphm," he said, and reached up a hand to take mine. "Ken, it works the other way, too."
"What does?"
"The stubbornness of a mind that willna let go." He squeezed my hand and looked up at me. "While we were parted, how many times did ye tell yourself I was dead, Sassenach?" he asked softly. "How often did ye try to forget me?"
I stood motionless, hand curled round his, until I thought I could speak.
"Every day," I whispered. "And never."
Selected Comments From Facebook:
Reader’s Comment: Thanks, Diana. I was just thinking as I got to the end of reading your excerpt, "Every Day And Never" could be an interesting title [for Book Nine].
No, it really wouldn’t. When we were discussing possible titles for my first novel, the publishing people kept coming up with "time" allusions— Always, Forever, Once, etc.— until I pointed out to them that there were (literally) dozens of romance novels with that sort of title, and a) this wasn’t a romance novel and I didn’t want it to be mistaken for one <cough>, and b) all those titles were, essentially, meaningless— they all sound just the same, they elicit no specific image or emotion, and thus are completely forgettable.
The "Every day… and never," in the excerpt here has a lot of resonance not because of those words themselves, but because of the questions they’re answering. Without Jamie’s questions, they’re meaningless— but with them… well, then, you got something. <g> (Moral being, words seldom stand on their own in good writing; there should be reference and resonance among all the elements on the page.)
Reader’s Question: I just had an odd thought pop into my head as I was reading this. When you were writing the first books there was no physical embodiment of the characters. Now that the Starz series is out, is it hard to stay true to your original style and keep the characters who they were before they where Sam and Caitriona?
No, not at all.
Originally posted on my Facebook page on February 8, 2016. It was also posted on my blog on February 22, 2016.
This page last updated on Monday, February 22, 2016 at 2:45 a.m. (PT).