Lord John and the Private Matter

Lord John and the Private Matter (2003) Diana Gabaldon

Set in London in 1757.

I’m have to different mysteries on hold to borrow from the library, and in the meantime, I started about twenty different books and none of them appealed to me, so it was time for a re-read.

There were a couple things I’d forgotten from my last read, once of which was that I do like Lord John’s relationship with his family. He’s a single man, a soldier, but he still is obedient to his mother.

Benedicta, Dowager Countess Melton, was several inches shorter than her youngest son, which placed her inconveniently at about the height of the Hanoverian’s middle waistcoat button. Stepping back a bit in order to relieve the strain on her neck, she spotted John, and her face lighted with pleasure.

She jerked her head at him, widening her eyes and compressing her lips in an expression of maternal command that said, as plainly as words, Come and talk to this horrible person so I can see to the other guests!

Grey responded with a similar grimace, and the faintest of shrugs, indicating that the demands of civility bound him to his present location for the moment.

Well, somewhat obedient.

“The man reeks as though he had just emerged from a whorehouse, I swear. And he would keep touching me, the hound.”

“What would you know of whorehouses?” Grey demanded. Then he saw the gimlet gleam in the Countess’s eye and the slight curve of her lips. His mother delighted in answering rhetorical questions.

“No, don’t tell me,” he said hastily. “I don’t want to know.”

The Countess was picking up things at random, peering nearsightedly beneath a heap of embroidery. “Do you see my spectacles, John? I know I had them!”

“They’re on your cap,” he said, smiling despite himself.

But it’s still a fun relationship.

But mostly, I just really like Lord John.

Grey was not a religious man, but he harbored a persistent vision: an avenging angel presiding over a balance on which the deeds of a man’s life were weighed— the bad to one side, the good to the other.

He’d learned in the army not to anticipate more than one unpleasant contingency at a time.

I always enjoy re-reading these stories. They’re a wonderful escape that always takes me away from the current world.
Rating: 8.5/10

Publisher: Delacorte Press

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