Outlander Book Club: Book 1, Chapter 31 breakdown
Just a look at the Outlander chapter
We open the chapter with Claire and Jamie being woken by Jenny so she can get them dressed. They need to look their best, and we find out that Jenny and Mrs. Crook had dresses made for Claire. It gives us a look at life back then, and it’s no wonder that clothing was routinely reused and handed down.
After getting dressed, Jenny finds jewelry, which is when the bracelets come in. Murtagh sees them and immediately notices them. It’s clear there is more to this, but we can’t focus on it right now. Everyone wants to know what happened at Leoch, especially since Murtagh has managed to bring more from the castle for Claire and Jamie.
It turns out nobody had realized Claire was gone at first. They just assumed she’d gone to her room or was in the surgery, which makes sense. She wasn’t fully integrated into castle life and didn’t have many close friends. It was Mrs. Fitz who noticed that she was missing and eventually feared the worse. However, Colum was not willing to let anyone head to the village to get Claire.
That was when Ned Gowan went to help Claire. While Jamie rode to Claire, Murtagh went to the castle, where Mrs. Fitz had already started to pack things up. It was like she knew Claire wouldn’t be returning to the castle, whether she was freed or not.
The chapter also gives us a look at the relationship between Murtagh and the Frasers. Claire seems to be shocked to find out that Murtagh is Jamie’s godfather, which seems inconsistent with an earlier chapter. She should have already known that.
However, we do see that Murtagh doesn’t understand her humor or teasing right now. She still has a way to go to become on a friendlier term with the man. When she jokes about Mrs. Fitz being a lost love, he’s offended. She’s family.
During Quarter Day, Jamie decides to make an offer to bring Rabbie in as a stable boy. Rabbie’s father isn’t willing to let his son go, so Jamie decides to beat MacNab into submission. Jamie makes it clear that there’s a fine line between brutality and discipline, and this is one of those cases.
At the end of the day, the couple gets to spend some time together. It’s when Jamie explains what happened to MacNab, but also the first time Claire tells Jamie that she loves him.