The Outlandish Companion - Diana Gabaldon [39]
A closer inspection of the supposed exciseman’s body leads to puzzlement; the man has no warrant of office, but instead—and more alarming—has a copy of the New Testament in his pocket: a copy printed at the shop of A. Malcolm. Someone has made the dangerous connection between the respectable A. Malcolm, printer, and the smuggler “Jamie Roy”— but who?
Leaving disposal of body and distribution of brandy to Fergus, Jamie and Claire seek a moment’s peace at Moubray’s, one of Edinburgh’s better eating establishments. Peace is momentary, though; their luncheon is interrupted by Sir Percival Turner, a local Crown official, who offers smiling congratulations on (what he assumes to be) their new marriage—and sinister warnings.
Sir Percival knows him as a smuggler, Jamie explains; however, Sir Percival assumes that Jamie—along with a good proportion of the population of Scotland—is dealing with contraband dry goods from Holland: cambric, velvet, and the like, rather than the much more profitable— and dangerous—liquor trade. A delivery from France is expected in the next few days; Sir Percival’s warning makes it apparent that the meeting place is known. However, there is a fallback system arranged; Jamie and his men will repair to the alternate location, on the cliffs above Arbroath.
Before Jamie can leave on this errand, though, there are a few loose ends to be attended to—Claire, and his nephew Young Ian. Young Ian’s whereabouts are revealed in dramatic manner; returning to the print shop after their “wedding” luncheon, Jamie and Claire discover it in flames, with Young Ian trapped inside.
Rescued from the conflagration, Young Ian is confronted by a wrathful father and uncle, back at the brothel. His father’s wrath is not assuaged by Young Ian’s refusal to accompany him home to Lallybroch at once; both infuriated and hurt by his son’s behavior, the elder Ian takes his leave, alone.
JAMIE IS SHOCKED and troubled by Ian’s treatment of his father, but more shocked by Ian’s revelations of his motives. The boy had spent the morning in shadowing a mysterious one-eyed seaman whom he had overheard in a tavern asking for Jamie—by his real name, which no one in Edinburgh should know, Jamie being known as “Malcolm the printer” under his legitimate cover, and “Jamie Roy” among the smugglers and brandy merchants.
Having lost the man, Ian had eventually made his way back to the print shop, only to find the one-eyed man in the back room, in the act of taking away some newly printed pamphlets—these of a deeply incriminating nature, having been printed for a small group of illegal seditionists. In his effort to stop the man from getting away, Ian set the shop on fire by overturning the lead-forge, and—he thinks—killed the one-eyed man in the process. Unable to face his father with the confession that he is a murderer, he thought perhaps his uncle Jamie would understand. Jamie, groping hastily in his sleeve for a handkerchief, looked up suddenly, struck by a thought.
“That’s why ye said ye must tell me, but not your da? Because ye knew I’ve killed men before?”
His nephew nodded, searching Jamie’s face with troubled, trusting eyes. “Aye. I thought… I thought ye’d know what to do.”
“Ah. ”Jamie drew a deep breath, and exchanged a glance with me. “Well…” His shoulders braced and broadened, and I could see him accept the burden Young Ian had laid down.
Jamie recommends prayer for the moment, confession on the morrow—and the comfort of his reassurance that Ian had no choice in the matter, and is not damned as a murderer. The process of healing continues with supper, and bed. The latter, however, is complicated by Fergus, who has thoughtfully arranged with Madame Jeanne that Ian shall not be left to brood alone in bed. Horrified, Jamie is unable to prevent Ian’s retiring with a young prostitute; in resignation, he admits to Claire that in fact the best remedy for the soul-sickness