Triallaire

Sapphire of My Eye

19 March, 1767

The Governor's Mansion, Kingston, Jamaica

CATRÌONA POV

I stood in front of the mirror adjusting my lavender floral dress over my belly. It wasn't very large, but it was certainly bigger than I was used to. A small part of me was still surprised that I, at forty-six, was expecting a child yet again. This little one was certainly coming late in life, but it wouldn't be any less loved than its older brother and sisters. I heard the door open and watched Jamie's reflection in the mirror stop and smile when he saw me.

"Ye are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen," he said to me, and I felt my cheeks flush as I smiled at him. "Te look at ye... Could be back at Versailles." I turned around to face him, my hand resting on my belly as he approached me, taking my hand and kissing it.

"Tha' was a verra long time ago," I muttered, feeling the nostalgia.

"Aye, but ye look as though it were yesterday," he said to me proudly, and I softly sighed and turned back around to look at my reflection.

"I didnae have white hairs back then," I told him, grasping a loose strand of white hair and drawing attention to it. I had used walnut shells to colour my hair brown again, though it was more of a brown auburn with my red showing through. It only deposited temporary colour, so the difference of the white hairs could still be seen.

"White hairs or no', yer as bonny as ye were the day I married ye," he said, wrapping his arms around me and kissing my cheek. "Here, I got ye this wee thing." He pulled out a necklace and put it around my neck, clasping it behind me. It was a little piece of black coral at the end of a golden chain, and I touched it gently.

"It's beautiful," I said to him, looking up at him. "Thank ye, Jamie." I accepted a kiss from him, and he embraced me from behind again. Once we had finished preparing, which included a powdered wig for Jamie to cover his red hair, we made our way down to the carriage that awaited us, and Marsali laughed when she saw Jamie's hair. "What? Do I no' look like a Scottish provocateur?" Jamie asked her playfully.

"No, ye look like a dandy!" she exclaimed.

"Aye, all he needs is the white face and the false mole," Archie chimed in. We hadn't managed to find another powdered wig in time for Archie, but we thought he might be fine. After all, only Jamie was wanted among us, so with only one of us having red hair, we thought we might draw less attention.

"No, he looks more like a Frenchman," said Fergus as Yi Tien Cho came around from the other side of the carriage.

"The same thing," he said, earning a laugh from Marsali and Archie while Fergus sent him a scowl.

"No one will be looking at you anyway, Milord, not once they have had an eyeful of squinty eyes," said Fergus to Yi Tien Cho.

"Aye, tha's why he's here, te be a distraction," Jamie told him. "Shall we be on our way?"

"Aye, cannae wait te get my fill of the wine we've spent three months starin' at," Archie said, opening the door of the carriage to hand Marsali in. "Where's Temeraire?"

"I am here," came Temeraire's voice from the driver's seat of the carriage - he was easy to miss, nearly blending in with the evening sky.

"How's yer leg, Temeraire?" I asked him before going into the carriage.

"It is well, ma'am," he answered me.

"Glad te hear it," I said as Archie handed me into the carriage next. It was a relatively smooth ride, and when we arrived at the mansion, there were quite a lot of carriages and guests making their way into the mansion for the ball. "Christ, it's like the whole of the island is here," I said, having never seen so many people in one place, besides at Versailles. Jamie hopped out of the carriage and made his way to the front, where Temeraire had already dismounted so a valet could take it.