Outlander Book Club: Voyager Chapter 26 breakdown
Just the Outlander chapter
We start the chapter the following morning. Claire and Jamie run through what happened to Jamie after Culloden, which brings up the scar on his leg. Claire knew that Lord Melton was the one to save him, but he expected Jamie to die on the way to Lallybroch.
It turns out that Jenny was the one to save him. She cleaned out the festering wound with boiling water and then sewed it up. The only reason she didn’t amputate Jamie’s leg was because Ian stopped her. He knew that Jamie wouldn’t be happy about the loss of his leg. Jenny wasn’t going to let her brother die, though.
Speaking of Ian Murray, he shows up at the brothel. This is the address Jenny has been writing to, but they had no idea it was a brothel. Ian is shocked, and he’s also ashamed that Jamie is paying for sex. Well, that’s when Ian realizes that Claire isn’t a working woman. He’s shocked to see Claire return, but the focus can’t remain on that.
Ian needs to know if Jamie has seen Young Ian. Jamie hasn’t, but he realizes that he has business to attend to. They can also see if anyone has seen Young Ian while out there. Claire is to remain in the room. It’s not like she has a dress yet, anyway.
While alone, Young Ian shows up. Claire doesn’t tell him who she is, but Young Ian assumes that she’s “Jamie’s woman.” Young Ian knows exactly what type of place it is and doesn’t seem to surprised at the idea of Jamie paying for sex. All Young Ian finds out is that Claire once knew her parents and that Ian is in Edinburgh.
With one young man gone, someone else shows up. Mr. Willoughby turns up. He keeps calling Claire “honorable First Wife,” although Claire doesn’t seem to question this. She’s too busy trying to keep Yi Tien Cho away from her feet.
Finally, Claire gets rid of the visitors. Breakfast and a dress still haven’t arrived, so Claire decides to take the sheets from the bed and goes in search for food. That’s when he comes across the ladies that work there. They assume Claire is Madame Jeanne’s newest girl, even though Claire is on the older side. Claire doesn’t correct them, more focused on finding food.
Madame Jeanne isn’t happy to find Claire there. However, she’s more annoyed that nobody brought Claire breakfast and Claire doesn’t have a dress yet. That’s when Claire learns that there’s a Fiend out there. Bruno, a man who helps the ladies when the customers get too rough, tells Claire that the Fiend has attacked at random for the last two years. He’s a little like an earlier Jack the Ripper.
The reason Claire hasn’t got her dress yet is the woman who mends and sews is grieving for her sister. Her sister was the recent Fiend victim.
There’s not much time to focus on this. Madame Jeanne and Bruno are late for a meeting, and Claire heads back to her room. That’s when Fergus shows up. He is happily surprised to find Claire there, although Claire doesn’t initially recognize him. They don’t spend a lot of time catching up as Jamie shows up needing help.
Claire wonders if he needs her help, so she goes toward the alleyway to find them. That’s when she’s attacked by a man saying there’s a reward and she’s to help him. Yi Tien Cho kills him, which later annoys Claire has she tries to explain to Fergus that it wasn’t her.
She calls Yi Tien Cho Jamie’s “pet Chinaman,” which admittedly annoys me of how little respect she has of this man she doesn’t even really know. It continues my annoyance of how Yi Tien Cho was written in the novel.
Finally, Jamie realizes that the man that attacked isn’t an exciseman. That’s one concern off their minds. What they need to figure out is why this man was here. What reward was he after?
All Jamie is concerned about is the trouble that everyone can get into. With Young Ian and Claire both in Edinburgh, there will be trouble. They’re both as bad as each other for that.