Outlander Book Club: Book 2, Chapter 41 breakdown
Just the Outlander chapter
We open with Claire heading up to graveyard on the grounds. It’s a place she goes to think, and usually, she’s alone. This time, she isn’t. Maisri is there, thinking carefully about what she should do.
Maisri is a Seer. Claire doesn’t even need to figure out whether she just thinks she has the sight or she really does. At one point, Maisri shares that she’s managed to change the future before. It gives Claire some hope that changing the future is possible.
However, to have a little hope of that means getting Simon Fraser to agree to joining the Jacobite cause. Maisri shares the vision she’s had. Simon Fraser could die, but it’s Claire she sees. Claire realizes that Simon likely has an illness that isn’t visible but has a few symptoms. If left untreated, he will die from it. If she can treat it, he could live.
That illness? He has an enlarged prostate, and it is stopping him from being able to urinate. That’s why he doesn’t drink too much. He needs to use the chamber pot but he can’t manage it. So, he decides not to drink so there’s no need to urinate. Claire gives him a way to relieve the ailment.
While this storyline is happening, the men are debating whether they should join Prince Charles. Young Simon Fraser, Jamie’s uncle, wants to head out with the men. The Old Fox is seemingly against it. More importantly, The Old Fox is biding his time. He wants to see which side of the cause is better to support in the future.
In the end, Lord Lovat allows 200 men to go. Jamie realizes that there aren’t 200 men after all. There are 170 men. Simon wanted to name the Lallybroch men as part of his contingent, making it a way to get hold of the Lallybroch lands. Jamie burns the papers to make sure nobody knows of this plan. The Lallybroch men are Jamie’s.
Speaking of the Lallybroch men, Jamie and Claire ride back to Lallybroch. Their intention is to remain at Lallybroch, thinking that everyone is safe. However, Jenny and Ian tell him that the Lallybroch men never return. Murtagh appears at the same time with some bad news.