I believe you," I said, my eyes fixed on the skein. "If only because it seems rather a lot of trouble to go to. What was your motive, though?

I thought of it, yes," he said finally. He let his head fall back on the pillow, eyes fixed on the low beamed ceiling. "Still, if I was human enough-or petty enough-to consider that I might offend you...

Don't tell me you didn't think of that when you decided to come here.

He had a diplomat's face; almost anything could have been going on behind that facade of handsome amiability. I went on staring at him, though, and he let the mask drop-a flash of knowledge lit the...

I meant no offense, he added a moment later, in a softer tone. I was surprised. I looked at him directly. I was too tired to be tactful. And a bit jealous, perhaps?

I don't really know, he said. He glanced at me, one eyebrow raised. Does that sound unfeeling? I couldn't say, I said, a little tartly. Surely you'd know better than I whether you had feelings for her...

And when my body shall cease, my soul will still be yours. Claire-I swear by my hope of heaven, I will not be parted from you.

Ian, your Latin would disgrace a dog! And as for the rest, ye havena got enough understanding of Greek to tell the difference between water and wine! If they're drinkin' it, it's not water

what he had learned himself by pain and grace? That only by forgiveness could she forget – and that forgiveness was not a single act, but a matter of constant practice.

What had happened to him was permanent. John Grey had lost a wife-however he might have regarded her. It had taken courage of more than one kind to bring William here, and to send him off with Jamie....

You are a rather remarkable woman, he said at last, in a level tone. Indeed, I said, not looking up. In what way? He leaned back; I heard the rustle of his bedding. You are neither circumspect nor...

Go down, she said, and tell them the MacKenzies are here.

bees that hae honey in their mouths hae stings in their tails

We look in the mirror and see the shades of other faces looking back through the years; we see the shape of memory, standing solid in an empty doorway.

We come and go from mystery and, in between, we try to forget. But a breeze passing in a still room stirs my hair now and then in soft affection. I think it is my mother.

And so he and Ian-who, it turned out, could also knit and was prostrated by mirth at my lack of knowledge-had taught me the simple basics of knit and purl, explaining, between snorts of derision over...

Soon, God willing, we would settle; find a place to make a home and a life. I wanted nothing more, and yet at the same time, I worried. We had known each other only a few months since my return. Each...

It was very, very peaceful, and all of a sudden I found myself shaking so hard that I had to sit down on the stream bank. Anytime. It could happen anytime, and just this fast. I wasn't sure which...

She saw it, and an extraordinary change came over her. She seemed scarcely to move, and yet all at once, her whole person was focused on Myers. No white showed around her eyes; they were black and...

Had it been this way where she came from? Had fires and food held back a jungle darkness, kept away leopards instead of bears? Had light and company given comfort, and the illusion of safety? For...

Jamie stood quite still, feeling his heart beat, watching. It was one of those strange moments that came to him rarely, but never left. A moment that stamped itself on heart and brain, instantly...

Amo, amas, I love a lass, As cedar tall and slender; Sweet cowslip's grace Is her nominative case, And she's o' the feminine gender.

Not then, at least, because Claire had met her-would meet her? Earlier? Later? She hadn't died, but was she dead? She must be now, mustn't she, and yet-damn this twistiness! How could he even think...

I've seen women-and men too, sometimes-as canna bear the sound of their own thoughts, and they maybe dinna make such good matches with those who can.

You are my courage, as I am your conscience,' he whispered. 'You are my heart - and I your compassion. We are neither of us whole, alone. Do ye not know that, Sassenach?

exposure to a two-year-old boy was probably the best possible object lesson in the dangers of motherhood

Still, as the Mass went on, things seemed more normal; there were Bible readings, quite familiar, and then the accustomed descent into the vaguely pleasant boredom of a sermon, in which the inevitable...

I felt at once horribly vulnerable and yet completely safe.

It was very quiet here on the mountainside,but, quiet in the of hills and forests. A quiet that wasn't silent at all, but composed of constant tiny sounds. It was small buzzing in the gorse bush...

Not everyone who goes through the stones comes out again. His look sharpened. How d'ye ken that, Sassenach? I can-I could-hear them. Screaming. I