Outlander Book Club: Book 1, Chapter 23 breakdown

Just the Outlander book chapter

We pick up at the inn. Dougal sends Claire to bed while he and Jamie take the horses. It’s later that we find out Dougal had waited up for Jamie to share some news. That news wasn’t going to be shared until the next morning, but Claire wakes up in the middle of the night with the thought of Horrocks.

Jamie has some bad news. While he found out who killed the sergeant major, he can’t do anything with the information. It was Black Jack Randall, and this man seems to be able to literally get away with murder.

The two spend some time discussing what Jamie can do. Claire continues to suggest what Jamie can do on his own, but Jamie now makes a point that he has to remember Claire, too. He wants to get back to Lallybroch but he needs to keep Claire safe.

This is when Jamie tells Claire that there’s an important guest coming to Leoch so everyone is heading back there. The Duke of Sandringham is arriving, and Claire knows all about him. She is worried, but there may also be a plan forming.

There’s not much time to think about it. Claire notices that a black spot on the bed is moving, and Jamie notes that it’s a bed bug. I think I’d have reacted the same as Claire. I’ve put up with bed bugs before and they’re terrible. Although I had to admit that sleeping on the floor like they end up doing wouldn’t exactly solve anything. The bed bugs would move where the food is, and Claire and Jamie are in easy reach on the floor.

Moving on, they get back to Leoch, which is when Mrs. Fitz, Laoghaire, and Colum all find out that Claire and Jamie have married. I’m always surprised that Dougal didn’t pass a message onto Colum about this to prepare him. After all, Colum notes that there are things Jamie is legally entitled to now, which is when Jamie asks for the percentage of the rent that he’s owed.

This gives Claire a bad feeling, especially when she also sees Laoghaire waiting for Jamie and upset that Claire has married him. All Claire can fear is that Jamie is meeting with Laoghaire secretly in the castle.

There are a couple of thoughts I have when she’s in the room alone. The first is that she mentions that she hasn’t thought of Laoghaire in the last two months, except briefly at the wedding. But she’d only just thought of Laoghaire in the previous chapter. Claire and Jamie talked about her and the beating he took for her.

The second thought is about Frank. Claire realizes that she can’t picture Frank anymore. She pictures Black Jack Randall instead. The mind’s memories do start to fail. I know I struggle to picture people I cared deeply about from my past. However, I don’t have the problem of a sadistic doppelganger around. There is some foreshadowing here, and I’ll get to that.

When Jamie returns, Claire decides to question him about two things: Laoghaire and the money. Laoghaire is her first, and she realizes how graceful Frank had been when asking her about infidelity. She’d been annoyed but had to admit that he did a better job than her.

Jamie does admit that he saw Laoghaire but that’s not why he went out. And the rent money had nothing to do with it. The only reason he wanted the whole £20 (Scots, not sterling) was to buy Claire a ring. Now she has one silver and one gold on either hand.

It does feel like this is the point when the two are back fully on the same page. They’re ready to be man and wife.