Outlander Book Club: The Fiery Cross Chapter 77 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

When a package arrives, Claire and Jamie discuss what it could be. Claire is hoping that it’s some seeds that she was promised, because Jamie can’t think of what else it could possibly be. However it’s not opened right away.

Claire explains that this is something everyone will want to be around for. Everyone wants a chance to guess what could be in the parcel, weighing it and sniffing it to get an idea to make educated guesses. From there, Jamie is allowed to open the parcel.

It’s an astrolabe, something Jamie had been wanting for some time. He couldn’t find one in the Colonies, so Lord John Grey promised to send one from London. It’s made of gold, and Jamie can’t think of why John would send something made of gold.

John wasn’t the one who sent it. The card in the box is from William, who Claire knows is Jamie’s son. Of course, William still doesn’t know, and he comments that his father, John, instructed him to send the astrolabe when he was in London. William has been bought a commission (a common thing for the time) and is now a captain.

Brianna doesn’t know the full truth about who William’s father is just yet. Jamie keeps that part from her. Brianna also imagines John’s son as a boy, but Jamie points out that he’s now 15.

Jamie wanted the astrolabe for surveying, something that Brianna knows how to do. However, she doesn’t know how to use it. Jamie tells Brianna that he’ll show her. It was something he learned to do in France.