The look, at least, makes Claire bite back a laugh. Oh, now she can laugh herself about the strangeness of it all, but before? Not so much. Though she does sober up when she replies to his question.
"When I was with each of then, it was believed the other was dead. So... I suppose that got overlooked, in a way. With a husband dead, there's no official need to dissolve a marriage." Or, you know, if they're hundreds of years apart.
Claire actually doesn't know if Willie is aware he's adopted--his mother died giving birth to him, and so his sister took the boy in, as Jamie told her. And then John Grey married her, becoming his father. It'd be easy enough to pass the boy off as their own and keep him safe in the process.
"Fergus? Oh, no. He's not ours by blood. My husband only ever frequented brothels for business purposes." Which sounds like a sorry excuse a husband would make, she knows, but she knows Jamie was never a patron. Not ever. "I do think of my husband's son now and then. Maybe more so these days," she says with a knowing smile towards Jon. Wonder why? "I don't know how I'd receive him were he to wake up and come down here."
"But they weren't dead?" He's lost and it shows. He didn't know exactly what questions would make things more clear. Instead, he will have to accept her explanation. It was obvious at least which man she preferred.
"Business purposes?" That's said with a hint of amusement. He knew the business men had in brothels. Theon had gone to them regularly, sometimes bragging about the women he had. Robb hadn't really bothered and Jon had tried once, only to flee before anything happened.
"Do you know the boy's mother?" Part of him had wondered if Catelyn had ever heard who his mother was. It seemed unlikely, given how little Ned spoke of her, if ever at all. It was a secret, even from those he loved. "I'm sorry for him. Being raised as a bastard is painful for a child." The attention and scorn was too much for someone young, introducing them to hostility before they came to know tenderness.
His questions seem to confuse her and this is her twisted marriage story. At least she can laugh, awkwardly. "Not when I thought they were. Though Frank is dead now--or... was. He's in stasis. I found him there not too long ago." So, technically, both her husbands are still alive. Good lord.
There's no need for Claire to defend Jamie in this. She never liked his business in brothels, but Prince Charles was a fan of conducting his discussions there. Though, considering how her husband later came to live in a brothel, she's not so sure some of Charles didn't rub off on him.
"No, I never met Willie's mother. She died giving birth to him, but I did meet his adoptive father." Lord John Grey. A curious man, quite fond of Jamie, and while that gave her pause, she knows he's a good man. Jamie wouldn't trust Willie to anyone less.
Knowing Jon is speaking from personal experience, she moves to take his arm and give him a little bump with her shoulder. She knows.
"If I ever do get the chance to meet him, I will most certainly keep you in mind. I would be glad for Jamie to have a son that's anything like you. If my husband came home with a Jon Snow, I'd be a lucky woman."
There was a hint of a smile on his lips, touched by the gesture and kindness offered. She was a different sort of woman from Lady Stark, and while he didn't doubt that she was frustrated or insulted by Willie's presence, he doubt that she went out of her way to insult him or make him feel unwelcome in his father's home.
But it wasn't something he knew how to discuss or express his feelings on. While he had frustrations about his childhood, they remained largely silent and buried under a stoic nature and the burden of duty that was far more pressing on his shoulders.
"We should get back," he said softly, ready to leave the ghosts behind. "Have you met any of the new arrivals?"
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"When I was with each of then, it was believed the other was dead. So... I suppose that got overlooked, in a way. With a husband dead, there's no official need to dissolve a marriage." Or, you know, if they're hundreds of years apart.
Claire actually doesn't know if Willie is aware he's adopted--his mother died giving birth to him, and so his sister took the boy in, as Jamie told her. And then John Grey married her, becoming his father. It'd be easy enough to pass the boy off as their own and keep him safe in the process.
"Fergus? Oh, no. He's not ours by blood. My husband only ever frequented brothels for business purposes." Which sounds like a sorry excuse a husband would make, she knows, but she knows Jamie was never a patron. Not ever. "I do think of my husband's son now and then. Maybe more so these days," she says with a knowing smile towards Jon. Wonder why? "I don't know how I'd receive him were he to wake up and come down here."
Or how to explain herself.
no subject
"Business purposes?" That's said with a hint of amusement. He knew the business men had in brothels. Theon had gone to them regularly, sometimes bragging about the women he had. Robb hadn't really bothered and Jon had tried once, only to flee before anything happened.
"Do you know the boy's mother?" Part of him had wondered if Catelyn had ever heard who his mother was. It seemed unlikely, given how little Ned spoke of her, if ever at all. It was a secret, even from those he loved. "I'm sorry for him. Being raised as a bastard is painful for a child." The attention and scorn was too much for someone young, introducing them to hostility before they came to know tenderness.
no subject
There's no need for Claire to defend Jamie in this. She never liked his business in brothels, but Prince Charles was a fan of conducting his discussions there. Though, considering how her husband later came to live in a brothel, she's not so sure some of Charles didn't rub off on him.
"No, I never met Willie's mother. She died giving birth to him, but I did meet his adoptive father." Lord John Grey. A curious man, quite fond of Jamie, and while that gave her pause, she knows he's a good man. Jamie wouldn't trust Willie to anyone less.
Knowing Jon is speaking from personal experience, she moves to take his arm and give him a little bump with her shoulder. She knows.
"If I ever do get the chance to meet him, I will most certainly keep you in mind. I would be glad for Jamie to have a son that's anything like you. If my husband came home with a Jon Snow, I'd be a lucky woman."
no subject
But it wasn't something he knew how to discuss or express his feelings on. While he had frustrations about his childhood, they remained largely silent and buried under a stoic nature and the burden of duty that was far more pressing on his shoulders.
"We should get back," he said softly, ready to leave the ghosts behind. "Have you met any of the new arrivals?"