You're Tearin' My Guts Out, Claire.

I Stood Still, Vision Blurring, And In That Moment, I Heard My Heart Break. It Was A Small, Clean Sound, Like The Snapping Of A Flower's Stem.

When I Asked My Da How Ye Knew Which Was The Right Woman, He Told Me When The Time Came, I'd Have No Doubt. And I Didn't. When I Woke In The Dark Under That Tree On The Road To Leoch, With You Sitting On My Chest, Cursing Me For Bleeding To Death, I Said To Myself 'jamie Fraser, For All Ye Canna See What She Looks Like, And For All She Weights As Much As A Good Draft Horse, This Is The Woman.

Scots Have Long Memories, And They're Not The Most Forgiving Of People.

Perhaps It Was Only That The Sense Of Reaching Out To Something Larger Than Yourself Gives You Some Feeling That There Is Something Larger - And There Really Has To Be, Because Plainly You Aren't Sufficient To The Situation.

I Had Kissed My Share Of Men, Particularly During The War Years, When Flirtation And Instant Romance Were The Light-minded Companions Of Death And Uncertainty. Jamie, Thought, Was Something Different. His Extreme Gentleness Was In No Way Tentative; Rather It Was A Promise Of Power Known And Held In Leash; A Challenge And A Provocation The More Remarkable For Its Lack Of Demand. I Am Yours, It Said. And If You Will Have Me, Then.