Thanks Audiobooklover! I think you are right - he uses the mo neghean with his nieces / nephews later on, but I still can't get rid of the feeling of betrayal for his use of it under these circumstances

I know the paragraph above that says that he was glad he was speaking Gaelic because he wasn't paying attention to the comforting words that were coming from his mouth at that point, but that also means that Geneva didn't know Gaelic. He could've said anything / called her anything without her knowing if it was negative as long as he used a gentle voice.

Sorry...I know. Get over it. With all that is yet to come in the story, this is probably a very insignificant part overall. Just my possessiveness of Jamie rearing its ugly head

KellyH

I really do understand your feelings, but as you said:


He wasn't paying attention to his words and the endearments are what would naturally come out when he was trying to be comforting - not nasty words in a comforting voice. I don't think Jamie was intending to call her his dear or anything, he just wasn't thinking about it and since she didn't understand and couldn't misconstrue his words to mean more than they really did (which is to say more than nothing), it didn't matter to him what words they were.

But, I still understand your reaction.

I agree with what abl said, and that actually made me feel better about the whole scene. Once again, Jamie was in an impossible situation. I can't see that he would ever be cruel to a woman, despite what difficult situation she had created. He knew she was scared, so he was tender with her in the way that he knew.

When I read this scene, I tried to keep in mind that Jamie and Claire were not - at that moment - together. I think it would be much harder to accept this scene if Claire was waiting at Lallybroch.

What I tried to bear in mind in that scene as well was just how inexperienced Jamie was, in terms of the number of women he'd actually slept with. Apart from the one night in the cave with Mary, ALL of Jamie's sexual experience had been with Claire. (How unusual, for a man his age at that time!) I suppose his tenderness and instintive murmurings, although reminiscent of how we think of him with Claire, are really the only way he knows how to be with a woman.

And ABL is absolutely correct, some of the words Jamie used to calm Geneva are exactly what he'd say to a frightened horse!

okay, maybe it is the 2 cups of coffee or just the morning but "if you can't be with the one you love, love the one your with", I think he resolved himself to the situation. Can't se Jamie or anyone in the situation and not having some terms of endearment. He might of been angry at the situation she put him in but he was able to rise to the occasion. He cared enough about Geneva to have remorse and guilt later.

Thanks Mary_Mac and Janet - your thoughts definitely helped to get me in the right frame of mind and made it easier to read



*heart melts...I didn't even stop to think of it in this way
Just when I didn't think it was possible to love a fictional character any more...

SO nervous admitting this, but I feel just like I did when I fell in love with my hubby 21 years ago

KellyH

And that's why we all love these books so much! Who here hasn't fallen head over heels in love with Jamie?

Maybe that's why I haven't had my husband read "Outlander" yet -- wouldn't want him to find out about my "other man"!

How true! That hadn't even occurred to me!

Interesting references.

It isn't in Jamie's character to be cruel to a woman...any woman. His tenderness toward women in general appears over and over in the series. Geneva is obnoxious and conniving...but she is also young, trapped, confused, and desperately reaching for something of her own...even if she has to 'steal' it. Would any of us really want to see Jamie treat her viciously?

Not at all, and as you said, I don't think it's in him to do so.