User talk:Rose

Things I wonder about:

1) Since Temeraire remembers being in the shell before he hatched, he presumably remembers his hatching as well. Are we ever going to hear from him *why* he picked Laurence out of the officers on deck, especially given that Laurence was not trying to attract his attention and that he peered into a few other men's faces before addressing Laurence?

My own theory is that since later on Temeraire identifies a woman who's frightened of him as being "simple, like Volly," most of the men on deck for his hatching were scared and therefore looked unintelligent to him. Laurence was too busy fretting to be scared, so he's the only one who struck Temeraire as being intelligent enough to be interesting to talk to.

Alternate theory: Temeraire's eye was caught by the golden epaulets worn by naval captains.

2) Is Iskierka's nose going to be out of joint if she learns that while she may have picked her own name, Temeraire picked his own captain?

3) What happened to the sword Temeraire gave Laurence in China? It seems to me that the last time we saw it was when Laurence used it to behead a boarder during the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt. It doesn't seem typical of Temeraire to lose track of a thing like that. Was it given to Lord and Lady Allendale along with the rest of Laurence's things after he was arrested?

4) Did the egg that Volly sired hatch in "Novembrer" 1807 as Volly said it was going to?

5) Did Riley end up bringing his son aboard the Allegiance for the trip to Australia or not? If he did, how did he persuade a wet nurse to come along for the 14-month trip to Australia and back, and how is he going to explain the wet nurse's presence to the Admiralty?

Think about it - the child was conceived in May 1807 at the earliest. At ten pounds, he can hardly have been premature. However, we know he was born before the Battle of Shoeburyness in early March 1808, so he must have been conceived in May and born in February. At the time the Allegiance sails for Australia, he can't be more than a few months old - and infant formula hasn't been invented yet.

6) Did Lily ever get the bound copy of the geometry discussion notes that Catherine promised her, and did it indeed have gold hinges?