Amelie Beauchamp

Amelie Beauchamp
Biographical information
Full name	Amelie Elise LeVigne Beauchamp
Died	c. 1736
Physical information
Gender	Female
Affiliations
Nationality	French
Family members
Parents and Siblings	Claude Beauchamp, Baron Amandine (brother) Cecile Beauchamp (sister)
Spouse(s)	Comte St. Germain (unconfirmed)
Children	Fergus Fraser (son) (unconfirmed)
Book appearances
An Echo in the Bone (mentioned only)
An Echo in the Bone (mentioned only)

Amelie Beauchamp was the older sister of Claude Beauchamp, Baron Amandine, and Cecile Beauchamp. She had a scandalous affair with a married nobleman that resulted in pregnancy, and disappeared from her home one night, never to be seen by her family again.

Personal History

Amelie was born the eldest daughter of the old Baron Amandine, and raised at his estate Trois Flèches near Compiègne in France. She had a younger brother, Claude, and a sister, Cecile.

In her teens, Amelie was seduced by an older married man, the Comte St. Germain, who got her pregnant. When St. Germain's wife suddenly died, Amelie demanded that he married her. The Comte, however, was not inclined to do so.

One night, Amelie disappeared from her home, taking her jewels. The Comte claimed to be ignorant about this. However, two day's after her disappearance, the Comte's assistant coachman delivered a heavy carpet to a Parisian brothel. A woman who worked at the brothel at that time told Percy that Amelie was brought to the brothel in the middle stages of pregnancy. A few months later, she gave birth to a son, and died a year later of influenza.

Events of the Novels

Amelie Beauchamp doesn't appear in person in any of the novels.

An Echo in the Bone

In July 1777, Cecile's husband Percy Beauchamp tells Lord John Grey the story of Amelie's disappearance, and his efforts to trace her whereabouts thereafter.

While at Trois Flèches, Percy had found a marriage contract between Amelie and Comte St. Germain in the library. He also tells Lord John that he believes Amelie's son is Fergus Fraser, a Parisian orphan raised in a brothel and adopted by Jamie and Claire Fraser in 1744.

Personality

Percy Wainwright's account of Amelie's demands to the Comte suggests that she was, at the very least, a strong-willed person.

Physical Appearance

Amelie's appearance is not described.

Name

• Amelie is ultimately derived from the Germanic name Amala, a short form of names beginning with the element amal meaning "work".
  • The French variant of the name is spelled Amélie.
• Elise is a shortened form of Elizabeth, from Ελισαβετ (Elisabet), the Greek form of the Hebrew name אֱלִישֶׁבַע (Elisheva) meaning "my God is an oath" or perhaps "my God is abundance".
• LeVigne is derived from the Old French word vigne meaning "vine".
• Beauchamp (English (or Norman origin) and French) is a habitational name from any of several places in France, for example in Manche and Somme, that are named with Old French beu, bel 'fair', 'lovely' + champ(s) 'field', 'plain'. In English the surname is generally pronounced "Beecham".