59 pages 1 hour read

Diana Gabaldon

Dragonfly in Amber

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1992

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Part 2, Chapters 12-17Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2: “The Pretenders”

Part 2, Chapter 12 Summary: “L’Hôpital Des Anges”

Content Warning: Part 2 Summary and Analysis sections contain references to abortion, which are discussed in the source text.

Jamie decides to allow Claire to volunteer at L’Hôpital des Anges so she does not have extra time to remove all her body hair; he’s uncomfortable with the thought of Claire without pubic hair. Claire diagnosis a sick woman with diabetes. The woman who runs the hospital, Mother Hildegarde, is impressed by Claire. Claire becomes a regular at the hospital, helping as much as she can, even becoming friendly with Mother Hildegarde’s infection sniffing dog.

Claire arrives home one afternoon to discover Jamie entertaining a young boy. He tells Claire a story of how he was chased through the docks by two sailors who intended to kill him. To escape, Jamie went into a brothel where he met the boy, Fergus. Jamie has hired Fergus as a pickpocket with the intention of having him steal correspondence from Charles Stuart’s home so he can monitor Charles’s progress on planning the Jacobite Uprising.

Part 2, Chapter 13 Summary: “Deceptions”

Louise is pregnant, but knows the child is not her husband’s. She is desperate to keep anyone from finding out and asks Claire for the recipe to make an abortifacient. Claire suggests that instead of taking the potion, she might seduce her husband and