The SPOILER Thread can be found here.

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
Copyright 1994

Please discuss Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager ONLY in this thread. Thanks!

Chapter 58 Masque of the Red Death (sorry this is so long...I tried to edit to make it more concise, but it didn't help much!)

The chapter opens with Claire quoting the A.E. Housman poem, Oh Who is that Young Sinner, to Jamie while they are getting ready for the Governor’s reception.

The description of Jamie’s attire borders on the ridiculous:

Red-heeled shoes and silk stockings clocked in black. Gray satin breeches with silver knee buckles. Snowy linen, with Brussels lace six inches deep at cuff and jabot. The coat, a masterpiece in heavy gray with blue satin cuffs and crested silver buttons, hung behind the door, awaiting its turn. He finished the careful powdering of his face, and licking the end of one finger, picked up a false beauty mark, dabbed it in gum arabic, and affixed it neatly near the corner of his mouth. “There,” he said, swinging about on the dressing stood to face me. “Do I look like a red-heided Scottish smuggler?” Claire replied,”You look like a gargoyle.”

How does Jamie intend to be unnoticed in that get-up – towering to 6’7” with the three-inch heels??? He seems to think that covering his hair with a powdered wig will do the trick, and that Claire, looking lovely in her violet silk will be the necessary distraction. The contrast between Jamie’s outrageous clothing and Claire simply wishing she had pearls to accentuate her elegant dress is pretty funny! It would seem that all eyes would be on both of them because of the stark contrast, and with Mr. Willoughby in attendance they would look like the freak show at a circus!!! Jamie, though, seems to think Claire and Mr. Willoughby provide an adequate diversion.

After Jamie inquires of Fergus whether or not he had checked the powdered wig for lice because it was itching his head, and after Claire suspiciously inquires of Marsalie whether or not she is using the tansy oil, they are off to the Governor’s mansion. Now the fun begins!

As Claire is waiting in the receiving line to greet LJG, she is recalling a rumor that his wife had refused to accompany him to the island. LJG, ever the gentleman, shows genuine delight when he recognizes Claire and pays her lovely compliments. (It seems that Tom Leonard told LJG that Claire was unwell rather than telling that she had escaped the ship.) All is well until Claire introduces Jamie to LJG - she turns to find LJ “gone green as a gooseberry.” Jamie greets an obviously shocked LJ and proceeds to introduce Claire. LJG looks at Claire completely bewildered, murmuring her name. Jamie requests that they take time to speak later. Jamie informs LJG that for tonight he is Etienne Alexandre, a Frenchman, which is the icing on the cake of his disguise, so to speak! The remainder of the evening, Jamie speaks French as if he is, indeed, a Frenchman.

The evening proceeds with the usual introductions, small talk and gossip. Claire is trying to pick up all the tidbits she can about the Abernathy plantation and others near Kingston, Fergus and Marsalie seem to be enjoying each other, and Mr. Willoughby is making the rounds. Claire takes note of Jamie conversing with a tall, red-haired girl – and wonders if the girl realizes that Jamie is imagining her to be his daughter.

Claire is very confused by LJG's reaction to finding out she is Jamie's wife:

But Lord John’s response to the revelation of my identity was both puzzling and disturbing; you would think the man had seen a ghost. I squinted at my violet reflection, admiring the glitter of the black-and-gold fish at my throat, but failed to see anything unsettling in my appearance. My hair was tucked up with pins decorated with seed pearls and brilliants, and discreet use of Mrs. MacIver’s cosmetics had darkened my lids and blushed my cheeks quite becomingly, if I did say so myself. I shrugged, fluttered my lashes seductively at my image, then patted my hair and returned to the salon.

Claire then encounters Reverend Campbell who, to Claire’s dismay, keeps referring to her as Mrs. Malcolm. He is there to find out if the Governor will assist in finding his missing sister. Claire finds out that Reverend Campbell blames a man named Fraser for seducing his sister from her family years before. Claire listens to his rant and politely attempts to excuse herself; however, Reverend Campbell then focuses his attentions on Mr. Willoughby who is being attended by several fascinated ladies. He begins lecturing on the appropriate behavior of women. At this point, Mr. Willoughby is crawling around on the floor pretending to look for a lost earring, but it was not a lost earring he was interested in – it was feet! Claire decides she should intervene by finding Fergus and having him distract Mr. Willoughby before things become ugly.

Claire spies Jamie across the room heading for what she assumes are LJG’s private quarters. She continues down the long corridor where she hears male voices. The emotional conversation she heard from Jamie was puzzling to her.

Walking very quietly, I drew closer. Framed in the half-open door was Jamie, head bowed as he pressed Lord John Grey tight in a fervent embrace. I stood still, completely incapable of movement of speech. As I watched, they broke apart. Jamie’s back was turned to me, but Lord John faced the hallway; he could have seen me easily, had he looked. He wasn’t looking toward the hallway, though. He was staring at Jamie, and on his face was a look of such naked hunger that the blood rushed to my own cheeks when I saw it.

At this point, Claire drops her fan and flees, completely baffled by what she sees. She now understands, or things she does, why LJG was so shocked to meet her, realizing just how LJG feels about Jamie from the unguarded look on his face. Claire’s can’t grasp an understanding of why Jamie had not spoken of LJG to her before since it appears that they have such a close relationship. Claire sees LJG return to the room and,not liking the look on his face, she feels as if she could kill him. In an effort to avoid Jamie, who has now returned to the room, Claire retreats to the ladies’ room, where she finds Mina Alcott, who had been spending time with Mr. Willoughby, dead with her throat cut. She sees footprints leading to the window – “small neat prints of a felt-soled foot.”

Please share your thoughts!

The title of this chapter would appear to reference the short story of the same name, by Edgar Allen Poe, which is the story of a Prince who attempts to avoid the plague, and who hosts a masquerade ball at which time the Red Death visits and all in attendance die. How does this chapter relate or not, in your opinion?

What would your reaction have been to Claire, Jamie and Mr. Willoughby and their appearance? Claire is always very good at providing a distraction for Jamie, which is pretty comical in that he always finds himself in situations where a distraction is necessary! However, it always seems to work!

Do you think, as did Claire, that Jamie was imagining the young woman to be Brianna? Could his thoughts of learning about William from LJG have brought Brianna to mind?

Interestingly, Claire automatically assumes that something is *amiss* with her appearance and that having caused the odd reaction from LJG! Such a typical female response, but do you find it unusual for Claire who is almost always confident and lacking in vanity.

Did Reverend Campbell’s behavior seem odd? Why would he take such an interest in Mr. Willoughby and the women to whom he was talking? Should Fergus have been responsible for staying with Mr. Willoughby all evening, knowing of his previous behavior toward women?

If you had been Claire and had come upon the scene with LJG and Jamie, what would have been your reaction? Do you think Claire should have made her presence known and joined the conversation? Would you have had the same concerns that crossed Claire’s mind about their relationship, knowing the things about Jamie that she knew?

Did Mr. Willoughby murder Mina Alcott?

Great summary. I had forgotten all that happened in this very busy chapter.

The description of Jamie is hysterical. I am guessing since noone really knew him other than John, he wasn't really too concerned with drawing attention in that get up. John's reaction to Claire seems normal to me as he thought Jamie's wife was dead and had no notion that Mrs. Malcolm was Mrs. Fraser.

As for Reverend Campbell, his behavior was strange and as we later found out, he killed Ms. Alcott and was a sick and twisted man, which explains his odd behavior.

Claire and the 'spying' on Jamie and John was sort of stunning since Claire knew how Jamie felt and intimate contact with men. She realizes even more at that moment that she didn't know this new Jamie, he had changed and she didn't understand till later the relationship that Jamie and John had developed and why - part of which was Willie.

"Interestingly, Claire automatically assumes that something is *amiss* with her appearance and that having caused the odd reaction from LJG! Such a typical female response, but do you find it unusual for Claire who is almost always confident and lacking in vanity."

This chapter had so many truly funny moments that revolved around appearance, and I really liked that while Claire did go check to make sure nothing was wrong, her ultimate conclusion was that she looked damned good! I love how she fluttered her eyelashes at her own reflection.

Jamie's appearance is a hoot! I'm trying to picture him in the heels, the wig, the powder... incredible. I guess, given his size, it would be impossible to go unnoticed, and therefore it's a decent strategy for him to look completely striking, so long as he doesn't look anything like himself.

Claire's shock must have been overwhelming. To see Jamie in an embrace with a man, without a context... and then to think back over all the evidence amassed since their reunion showing how little she really knows about what Jamie did during their years apart. No matter how certain she might think she is that Jamie would never be physically involved with a man, I can understand how in these circumstances, there's certainly room for doubt.

What a great chapter. Thanks for the terrific summary!

Great summary, Trudy. I just finished rereading the chapter and it really is just chockful of stuff, isn't it?

The whole beginning was quite funny with the poetry and descriptions. Why didn't Fergus and Marsali go through the receiving line? Or did they just go either before or after the trio of Claire, Jamie and Mr. Willoughby? Did they plan to call Fergus Claudel if he was supposed to be with Jamie who was pretending to be French? I'm kind of amused by thinking about the Scottish Jamie speaking English with a French accent.

Jamie's unexpected presence really throws Lord John for a loop. John is usually pretty composed, but he has a hard time keeping his feelings off his face both in the receiving line and later in his office. I can understand why Claire was baffled by John's reaction to her name - Jamie never hinted to her that John would know who she really is - but her reaction was a tad strange in thinking that it was something about her appearance, since John had just complimented her appearance and was acting normal until Jamie came over.

If Jamie wanted Claire to provide a distraction, wasn't it a bit odd that after the initial intro, they weren't anywhere near one another all evening? I'm sure the people he was talking to noticed him and presumably weren't paying much attention to Claire or Mr. W. at that point. Mr. W. served his purpose at getting things rolling, though. Still seems like there should have been a different and less risky way to make introductions. . .

The Reverend Campbell is weird and kind of creepy - especially knowing what is yet to come - and I kept thinking about the problem with both him and initially Lord John calling Claire Mrs. Malcolm. If anyone from the Porpoise had been present, she might well have been recognized and in that case, even with the wig and French accent, they could easily have figured out who Jamie was. The more I think about it, the riskier I think Jamie's plan was. I know it advances the plot and I'm willing to go with it, but I think there must have been a better way for Jamie and Claire to collect info and contact John for his possible assistance. Oh, and I had managed to forget that the reverend was blaming James Fraser for his sister's troubles before I reread it tonight. Yet another layer of confusion and concerns for the Frasers.

I don't think Claire really believes that Jamie would have had intimate relations with any man, but the scene she witnessed was rather shocking given her lack of info about their relationship and about Willie, so I don't blame her for her reaction. I suspect that had she arrived a bit earlier she might have made her presence known, but she was so shocked by what she heard and saw that she just couldn't.

I was wondering about the chapter title too. I didn't remember details of the original story - thanks for the brief summary! - but certainly this chapter had a ball and a death, on a red chaise with lots of red blood. And, although the ball wasn't a masque per se, Jamie was clearly in a costume and Claire was pretending to be Madame Alexandre, so it was a masquerade of a sort.

Rather than thinking about Jamie and Claire's reaction, I couldn't help thinking about Lord John's feelings in this chapter. Here he is in the West Indies and holding his first event as Governor and who comes through the line...1st the woman surgeon on the ship he sailed in on but who disappeared; 2nd the one and only Jamie Fraser whose fate is mixed in with his own; 3rd the realization that the 1st is the long-thought dead wife of the man he loves and has know for over 20 years. He has to be thinking that the Gods are cruel or he is damned.

The title of this chapter would appear to reference the short story of the same name, by Edgar Allen Poe, which is the story of a Prince who attempts to avoid the plague, and who hosts a masquerade ball at which time the Red Death visits and all in attendance die. How does this chapter relate or not, in your opinion?

Perhaps John is the Prince who has attempted to avoid the plague of his love for this man, hosts a ball, and Jamie or better, Claire, is the Red Death that visits him.

Pauline, very good points about John's feelings during the receiving line. I'd been so focused on Claire and her confusion and reactions that I hadn't given John much thought. Poor man. Given all those shocks, it's really quite remarkable that he's able to remain as much of a gentleman toward Claire as he does down the line. Then again, given the time and his role in the upper class, John is able to be proper no matter what.

Thanks for the great chapter. I reread the chapter. I have lots of feelings for John. I guess we all do considering SP. Seems Jamie is not the only one who learns a thing or two about LJ. Jon does seem to get the short end of the stick. I love the humor in this chapter. What a crew! I like how Claire is cruising the food table! Her reaction to finding Jamie and LJ was a bit of a surprise. I thought she would have interrupted to see what was really going on.

Great points, everybody!

Pauline, nice point about LG. I, like everyone else, am always focused on Jamie and Claire. It would be interesting to see this chapter rewritten from LJ's POV.

I have been in the bad habit of not even reading the chapter titles, so it's very interesting to think that DG likened this to Edgar Allen Poe's story. t hadn't even really occurred to me consciously that Claire and Jamie were masquerading as other people. LJ too, I suppose, given that he is, for the most part, trying to hide his feelings for Jamie.

I'm curious about the circumstances that led LJ to become the governor of Jamaica - is this discussed more in the LJ series? Given that LJ has given his word to Jamie to care for Willie, it seems strange that he would come to Jamaica without his wife and son.

Well, the LJ series hasn't gotten to the point where John was given the assignment as governor of Jamaica, but they may very well get to that point eventually if DG keeps writing them. As for leaving his wife and son, I think that's very typical of military personnel, so I don't think he was abandoning them. Just going to his next assignment, where they might join him later.

Mary_Mac , Please keep reading! Some of your questions will be answered.!

Agreed. Particularly given the perils of sea travel (typhoid! pirates!), it really wouldn't have been unusual for John to not bring his family with him to Jamaica -- not to mention how unsettled the islands were at the time, with slave revolts making things particularly dangerous. Military men at his level would be expected to go wherever duty sends them; even more so for political appointments, I would imagine, and it wouldn't be uncommon for the wife and child (or children) to remain behind in England.

I wonder if eventually DG will take the Lord John books all the way through to the point in time where those stories and Voyager coincide. I'd love to hear more about John's experiences as a father.