Outlander Book Club: Book 2, Chapter 20 breakdown
Just the Outlander chapter
We pick up the morning after the night before. Everyone has managed to sleep a little, and now it’s time for Claire to bring up “La Dame Blanche.” Why would anyone call her “The White Lady.”
Well, it turns out that it’s far more serious. This white lady is a sorceress. She’s a good sorceress though unless she sees evil in a person’s soul. It’s no wonder the men ran away when they saw her but why exactly did they think Claire was La Dame Blanche?
We find out that Jamie is to blame for this. When he wouldn’t do anything with the brothel women and was being teased, Jamie told them that he couldn’t because of who his wife was. He told the story of La Dame Blanche, which certainly helped to get the men off his back.
It looks like the story has been passed around. A lot of people know about it now.
While I’m sure Claire understands why Jamie told the white lie (and I love that he kept his promise of being honest), I was surprised by Claire’s reaction. Being called a witch in the 18th century was dangerous. Even as a good witch, it could have had some serious implications with a king who was suspicious.
After Crainsmuir, she took Jamie’s confession far too easily. I do prefer the way the show did this a little because it suited the fear of being called a witch back then. I’ll get to that in the show breakdown, though.
Once this is over, Claire needs to see Master Raymond. She finds out what the gossip is, including Comte St. Germain’s embellishments, and then tells Raymond the full truth. Raymond believes Claire outright, and I think it says a lot about who he is and how long he’s been around.
We also get a moment of Claire talking about how she’s not a real doctor. She’s only a nurse. For now, that is. However, Raymond points out that Claire heals differently to others. She doesn’t want to heal people but help them heal, and he says it all as a compliment.
He understands that it’s about the soul. People who should survive have died. Those who should have died have survived. It’s all about healing the soul, and it’s such a powerful moment in this chapter.
Finally, Claire heads to see Mary Hawkins. She wants to help Mary heal both physically and mentally. Mary worries that she may be pregnant now, but Claire shares that isn’t possible because the man didn’t “finish.” Of course, Claire knows that there is a slim chance, but she doesn’t want to worry Mary even more.
That is Mary’s main concern. She has no issue with writing a letter to make sure nobody is jailed for anything that happened at the dinner party. Off Claire goes, ready for the next part of the French journey.