Outlander Book Club: Book 1, Chapter 34 breakdown
Just the Outlander chapter
We’re starting off with Claire and Murtagh on their search for Jamie. They have an idea of the direction he’ll head in, so that’s the way they head too. Along the way, Murtagh sings and Claire heals the sick. It’s enough to spread the news that the two are traveling, and they hope it will draw Jamie to them.
Along the way, Murtagh suggests that Claire sings with him. He would also like her to tell fortunes, but he does respect her decision not to. After the witch trials, telling fortunes could be a difficult subject. However, Claire agrees, and she knows how to do it thanks to Mrs. Graham.
While they’re on their search, they meet a group of gypsies who speak no English. They have to communicate through pantomime actions, but it gets the message across. The gypsies agree to help, passing a message to them when they know something.
That something looks like a trap, but it turns out to be Dougal in a cave. Of course it’s Dougal! Did we really expect anyone else?
Dougal knows that Jamie has been picked up by some dragoons and is now in Wentworth Prison. Jamie is set to hang for murder, but Claire can’t allow that to happen. She needs to get Jamie out.
Dougal just wants Lallybroch (and that it will pass onto Claire after Jamie’s death), so he proposes marriage after Jamie is executed. That’s certainly not something she’s interested in doing. I do wonder if she would return to Frank if Jamie did die or whether she would have returned to Lallybroch to be with Jenny and Ian. We’ll never know, but the thought did cross my mind while reading this chapter.
The conversation with Dougal is important. We learn that Geillis did die, but that the baby was born. Dougal gave his son away to a good family, who we later find out was the family who had lost the baby “to changelings.”
We also learn that Dougal is definitely Hamish’s biological father, and it’s something Colum knows. Dougal, Colum, and Letitia all agreed to make sure there was an heir for Colum. Dougal wasn’t all that impressed with Letitia’s actions in the bedroom, but it was a means to an end.
Oh, and Dougal also tells Claire that he didn’t try to kill Jamie. He thinks one of the men Jamie was hanging out with at the time struck him over the head with an ax. Dougal wouldn’t have killed the boy. Of course, we know that Dougal is a good liar, so is he lying about this?
In the end, Dougal agrees that Claire can take his men if they agree to go with her. Rupert leads the charge of five men who agree to help Claire and Murtagh get Jamie out of Wentworth Prison.