roger's dragonfly in amber timeline
Roger Wakefield
Significant Moments in Dragonfly in Amber:
1968:
Roger's adoptive father, the Reverend Wakefield dies. Roger takes a month's leave in April to sort out the Reverend's affairs and meets Claire and Brianna when they arrive at the Manse. Claire asks Roger if he can help her find out how many men from Lallybroch survived Culloden (DIA, chapter 1) While cleaning out the Reverend's desk Roger finds old newspaper clippings detailing Claire's disappearance and reappearance (DIA, chapter 2)
Roger discovers that Jack Randall is buried in the old St Kilda kirkyard and arranges a trip there with Claire and Brianna. He and Brianna don't tell Claire about Randall's grave, intending to surprise her but she reacts with shock rather than surprise. Leaving Claire alone to recover her composure, Bree and Roger look inside the old church. They have their first kiss when suddenly the air is shattered with Claire's scream. They find her by a gravestone with Jamie's name on it and she tells them that Jamie was her husband and Brianna's father. When they get Claire back to the manse she starts to explain more and Roger finds himself starting to believe her story (DIA, chapter 5)
Claire finishes her tale and Brianna reacts angrily to Claire's revelations and storms out of the room. Roger remains and Claire asks him if he believes her and he replies that he's damned if he knows. Roger asks Claire if he can look at her silver wedding ring as it may have an 18th century silversmith's mark which would provide some proof to her tale. Claire says that she has never removed Jamie's ring, but she takes it off and discovers that the words "da mi basia mille' from Catullus's love poem are inscribed inside the ring. She is overcome with emotion but manages to get herself under control and points out to Roger that it's still not proof. Roger replies that it is absolute proof to him (DIA, chapter 47)
Claire reveals that despite the fact that Frank was a Jacobite scholar she couldn't bear to read any of his books and doesn't know what happened to any of the men she knew who took part in the Rising. Roger fills Claire in on the fates of the main players in the Rising (DIA, chapter 47)
After the catharsis of confession, Claire feels exhausted but at peace but she will not rest until she does one more thing. She explains to Roger that she has two things she must say to him. The first is the reason that she wanted him there when she told her story was because, like Brianna, he has the right to know who he is. Claire then reveals to Roger that one of his ancestors, William Buccleigh MacKenzie, was actually the child that Geillis bore to Dougal. He was taken in by William and Sarah MacKenzie who had just lost their own two month old baby son and given their dead son's name. (DIA, chapter 47)
The second reason is that it is now 1968, the year that Geillis Duncan went through the stones, and Claire is fairly certain that Geillis hasn't yet made the trip. When Claire spoke to Fiona about the Druid group she belonged to, Fiona had told her that a tall, blonde woman with green eyes called Gillian Edgars had also been making enquiries. Claire tells Roger that it is his decision whether he should look for Gillian. Roger says that of course he must find her and warn her that if she goes back she will be burnt at the stake. Claire then asks him - but if Gillian doesn't go back, what happens to you? Roger considers al the unknown ramifications but decides that he will look for Gillian (DIA, chapter 47)
Roger and Claire go to Gillian's flat looking for her, but find only her rude alcoholic husband Greg, who tells them she isn't home and to bugger off. They then head to the Institute for the Study of Highland Folklore and Antiquities where Gillian spends a lot of time. Pretending to be academics from Oxford assessing Gillian's suitability for a graduate position, Claire and Roger talk to the Director of the Institute and learn that Gillian's interest in standing stones borders on the obsessive. Roger is overcome with the realisation that Gillian is real and Claire's story may well be true. Claire steals the key to Gillian's study carrel (DIA, chapter 48)
After leaving the Institute, Claire suggests to Roger that he goes back to visit Greg Edgars that evening with a bottle of whisky to make him talk. She asks him to take Brianna with him because Claire thinks that although Brianna does not believe her, she will believe whatever Greg Edgars has to say about Gillian. While Roger does that Claire intends to break into the Institute and steal Gillian's notebook (DIA, chapter 48)
Roger and Brianna have dinner together at a pub. After they finish their meal Roger buys a bottle of whisky and asks Brianna if she would like to come with him while he drops it off to someone and she agrees. He doesn't tell Brianna that he is visiting Greg Edgars (DIA, chapter 48)
Roger gains access to Greg Edgars' home by pretending to be Gillian's cousin. Greg tells them Gillian left him about two weeks ago. He met her about three years earlier when they were both members of the Scottish Nationalists, but Gillian had become obsessed and joined the Society of the White Rose which had a deep interest in Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite Rising (DIA, chapter 48)
Brianna grows suspicious at Roger's line of questioning and asks that they leave. On the way home Bree confronts Roger and asks who Gillian Edgars really is. When he tells her Gillian is Geillis Duncan, Bree withdraws from Roger. He reacts angrily and tells her that he is descended from Gillian and his dilemma about trying to stop her going through the stones knowing her fate there. Bree asks him if he believes Claire's story and he tells her that he does because of the look on Claire's face when she saw the words Jamie had inscribed on her wedding ring. Brianna is still not ready to believe but is no longer violently rejecting the idea (DIA, chapter 48)
On the eve of Beltane, Claire, Roger and Brianna set out for Craigh na Dun to stop Gillian Edgars' implementing her plans which Claire has found in her notebook. They have been unable to contact her husband, Greg. They climb the hill and Roger spots a light by the stones. Claire can hear the stones buzzing and stumbles into Roger. The smell of petrol reaches them and Roger races towards Gillian. The petrol ignites and Roger is momentarily blinded. When his sight clears he sees Gillian's silhouette and smells the burning flesh of Greg Edgars. Roger runs towards Gillian but she turns and runs towards the cleft rock at the end of the circle. Gillian turns and looks at Roger and then vanishes into the rock (DIA, chapter 49)
Roger is assailed by a blinding noise and falls down where he clutches the grass to try and anchor himself to reality and resist the pull of the stones. He passes out and wakes a little while later to the sound of Brianna calling his name. Brianna tells him that he had been crawling towards the stones and she was terrified she wouldn't be able to stop him. Brianna had also heard the stones and is in shock while Roger slowly gets himself together. He asks Brianna where Claire is and in panic they look for her, eventually finding her lying senseless in the grass at the edge of the circle (DIA, chapter 49)
Roger carries Claire unconscious down to the car which exhausts him so Brianna drives them back to the manse. When Claire regains consciousness she asks Roger if Gillian went through the stones. When he says, yes, Claire looks at Brianna who now has to accept that Claire's story is true. When Claire sees that Brianna now believes her she relaxes back into sleep (DIA, chapter 49)
Roger, Claire and Bree are up all night giving statements to the police and finally get to bed around dawn. They eat dinner together that night and then Roger removes himself to the study to think about whether he should reveal some information he has found on Jamie to Claire. After much contemplation he decides that he owes Claire and Brianna the truth, regardless of how much discomfort it will cause. Roger approaches Claire and shows her the passage he has found in a book - a passage that suggests that although Jamie Fraser went to Culloden intending to die, he did not succeed and had survived the battle (DIA, chapter 49)
Go back to Roger's pre-Dragonfly in Amber timeline
Go on to Roger's Voyager timeline
Significant Moments in Dragonfly in Amber:
1968:
Roger's adoptive father, the Reverend Wakefield dies. Roger takes a month's leave in April to sort out the Reverend's affairs and meets Claire and Brianna when they arrive at the Manse. Claire asks Roger if he can help her find out how many men from Lallybroch survived Culloden (DIA, chapter 1) While cleaning out the Reverend's desk Roger finds old newspaper clippings detailing Claire's disappearance and reappearance (DIA, chapter 2)
Roger discovers that Jack Randall is buried in the old St Kilda kirkyard and arranges a trip there with Claire and Brianna. He and Brianna don't tell Claire about Randall's grave, intending to surprise her but she reacts with shock rather than surprise. Leaving Claire alone to recover her composure, Bree and Roger look inside the old church. They have their first kiss when suddenly the air is shattered with Claire's scream. They find her by a gravestone with Jamie's name on it and she tells them that Jamie was her husband and Brianna's father. When they get Claire back to the manse she starts to explain more and Roger finds himself starting to believe her story (DIA, chapter 5)
Claire finishes her tale and Brianna reacts angrily to Claire's revelations and storms out of the room. Roger remains and Claire asks him if he believes her and he replies that he's damned if he knows. Roger asks Claire if he can look at her silver wedding ring as it may have an 18th century silversmith's mark which would provide some proof to her tale. Claire says that she has never removed Jamie's ring, but she takes it off and discovers that the words "da mi basia mille' from Catullus's love poem are inscribed inside the ring. She is overcome with emotion but manages to get herself under control and points out to Roger that it's still not proof. Roger replies that it is absolute proof to him (DIA, chapter 47)
Claire reveals that despite the fact that Frank was a Jacobite scholar she couldn't bear to read any of his books and doesn't know what happened to any of the men she knew who took part in the Rising. Roger fills Claire in on the fates of the main players in the Rising (DIA, chapter 47)
After the catharsis of confession, Claire feels exhausted but at peace but she will not rest until she does one more thing. She explains to Roger that she has two things she must say to him. The first is the reason that she wanted him there when she told her story was because, like Brianna, he has the right to know who he is. Claire then reveals to Roger that one of his ancestors, William Buccleigh MacKenzie, was actually the child that Geillis bore to Dougal. He was taken in by William and Sarah MacKenzie who had just lost their own two month old baby son and given their dead son's name. (DIA, chapter 47)
The second reason is that it is now 1968, the year that Geillis Duncan went through the stones, and Claire is fairly certain that Geillis hasn't yet made the trip. When Claire spoke to Fiona about the Druid group she belonged to, Fiona had told her that a tall, blonde woman with green eyes called Gillian Edgars had also been making enquiries. Claire tells Roger that it is his decision whether he should look for Gillian. Roger says that of course he must find her and warn her that if she goes back she will be burnt at the stake. Claire then asks him - but if Gillian doesn't go back, what happens to you? Roger considers al the unknown ramifications but decides that he will look for Gillian (DIA, chapter 47)
Roger and Claire go to Gillian's flat looking for her, but find only her rude alcoholic husband Greg, who tells them she isn't home and to bugger off. They then head to the Institute for the Study of Highland Folklore and Antiquities where Gillian spends a lot of time. Pretending to be academics from Oxford assessing Gillian's suitability for a graduate position, Claire and Roger talk to the Director of the Institute and learn that Gillian's interest in standing stones borders on the obsessive. Roger is overcome with the realisation that Gillian is real and Claire's story may well be true. Claire steals the key to Gillian's study carrel (DIA, chapter 48)
After leaving the Institute, Claire suggests to Roger that he goes back to visit Greg Edgars that evening with a bottle of whisky to make him talk. She asks him to take Brianna with him because Claire thinks that although Brianna does not believe her, she will believe whatever Greg Edgars has to say about Gillian. While Roger does that Claire intends to break into the Institute and steal Gillian's notebook (DIA, chapter 48)
Roger and Brianna have dinner together at a pub. After they finish their meal Roger buys a bottle of whisky and asks Brianna if she would like to come with him while he drops it off to someone and she agrees. He doesn't tell Brianna that he is visiting Greg Edgars (DIA, chapter 48)
Roger gains access to Greg Edgars' home by pretending to be Gillian's cousin. Greg tells them Gillian left him about two weeks ago. He met her about three years earlier when they were both members of the Scottish Nationalists, but Gillian had become obsessed and joined the Society of the White Rose which had a deep interest in Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite Rising (DIA, chapter 48)
Brianna grows suspicious at Roger's line of questioning and asks that they leave. On the way home Bree confronts Roger and asks who Gillian Edgars really is. When he tells her Gillian is Geillis Duncan, Bree withdraws from Roger. He reacts angrily and tells her that he is descended from Gillian and his dilemma about trying to stop her going through the stones knowing her fate there. Bree asks him if he believes Claire's story and he tells her that he does because of the look on Claire's face when she saw the words Jamie had inscribed on her wedding ring. Brianna is still not ready to believe but is no longer violently rejecting the idea (DIA, chapter 48)
On the eve of Beltane, Claire, Roger and Brianna set out for Craigh na Dun to stop Gillian Edgars' implementing her plans which Claire has found in her notebook. They have been unable to contact her husband, Greg. They climb the hill and Roger spots a light by the stones. Claire can hear the stones buzzing and stumbles into Roger. The smell of petrol reaches them and Roger races towards Gillian. The petrol ignites and Roger is momentarily blinded. When his sight clears he sees Gillian's silhouette and smells the burning flesh of Greg Edgars. Roger runs towards Gillian but she turns and runs towards the cleft rock at the end of the circle. Gillian turns and looks at Roger and then vanishes into the rock (DIA, chapter 49)
Roger is assailed by a blinding noise and falls down where he clutches the grass to try and anchor himself to reality and resist the pull of the stones. He passes out and wakes a little while later to the sound of Brianna calling his name. Brianna tells him that he had been crawling towards the stones and she was terrified she wouldn't be able to stop him. Brianna had also heard the stones and is in shock while Roger slowly gets himself together. He asks Brianna where Claire is and in panic they look for her, eventually finding her lying senseless in the grass at the edge of the circle (DIA, chapter 49)
Roger carries Claire unconscious down to the car which exhausts him so Brianna drives them back to the manse. When Claire regains consciousness she asks Roger if Gillian went through the stones. When he says, yes, Claire looks at Brianna who now has to accept that Claire's story is true. When Claire sees that Brianna now believes her she relaxes back into sleep (DIA, chapter 49)
Roger, Claire and Bree are up all night giving statements to the police and finally get to bed around dawn. They eat dinner together that night and then Roger removes himself to the study to think about whether he should reveal some information he has found on Jamie to Claire. After much contemplation he decides that he owes Claire and Brianna the truth, regardless of how much discomfort it will cause. Roger approaches Claire and shows her the passage he has found in a book - a passage that suggests that although Jamie Fraser went to Culloden intending to die, he did not succeed and had survived the battle (DIA, chapter 49)
Go back to Roger's pre-Dragonfly in Amber timeline
Go on to Roger's Voyager timeline