Ute McGillvary isn’t happy to learn about Manfred’s illness in Outlander Book 6, Chapter 46
As you would expect, things don’t go too well when Ute McGillvary finds out her son has syphilis in Outlander Book 6, Chapter 46. Will Claire and Jamie’s reputations be ruined?
It’s time for the fallout from the truth of the matter. Manfred doesn’t stick around to tell the truth. Instead, he’s off contemplating suicide because of the death sentence that this illness brings. That means Jamie is the one who hasn’t to tell the McGillvarys about everything.
Then Lizzie needs to find out the truth. This causes a huge scandal, and it’s not even Lizzie’s fault. Of course, it’s the time period. Nobody can dare to blame the man who couldn’t help himself when it came to being in Hillsborough.
We do get a little bit of foreshadowing in this chapter. It’s not much, though. The purpose of the chapter is to free Lizzie up for the next part of her own storyline.
Will it be used in the TV series? I don’t think it will, and I’ll get to why that is in the adaptation section of the post.
Let’s dive into A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 46.
Just the Outlander chapter
The chapter starts with Young Ian sharing that Manfred has ran off. He intends to kill himself, and Claire is upset about that. She could at least try to cure him of syphilis. Claire wants to send the Beardsley twins off to find Manfred to try to cure him.
However, it means Jamie is the one who needs to tell the McGillvarys about Manfred’s illness. He chooses to tell Robin alone, so it’s not surprising that the next morning at dawn, Ute comes banging on the house door waking everyone up. She refuses to believe the truth and decides that the Frasers have either lied or Claire has done something.
Ute makes it clear that Salem is closed to the Frasers. They are shunned. However, Ute can’t make good on all promises. Claire later shares that while some people do shun the Frasers and MacKenzies, not everyone does.
There is talk, though. Some people believe the truth, but others put the blame on Claire and Lizzie. Jamie, Young Ian, Roger, and others defend the women, meaning that there is less talk around their ears. That doesn’t mean the talk won’t continue.
The problem for everyone is that Lizzie’s engagement is off. She’s not that bothered about losing Manfred, but she is disappointed that she’s lost the McGillvarys. She enjoyed having a big family, and Ute was certainly welcoming. Lizzie’s dad is also disappointed by this. He’s lost his betrothed and the family that surrounded him.
At the very end of the chapter, Malva is with Claire in her surgery. She is shocked that women would want to sleep with men. Claire runs through the reasons women do it. Some do it for money, some for babies, but others because they enjoy it. Malva can’t imagine anyone enjoying it.
Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter
The bits of foreshadowing are quite small. The first is the Beardsley twins going off to find Manfred and Lizzie not being that bothered that her betrothed has left her. She was never interested in Manfred. There’s a big story with the twins coming up.
Then there’s Malva’s story. She is shocked that women would want to sleep with men. She’s not as naive as she makes herself out to be here, but she needs to keep the pretense up. You see, she knows what it’s like to be with a man, but not out of choice. We have the big storyline involving her brother and the men Allan forces her to sleep with coming up, but Tom knows nothing about it.
Adapting A Breath of Snow and Ashes chapter
I’m not sure just how much of this chapter will be developed in Outlander Season 6. I don’t think the McGillvary storyline will. The family hasn’t been introduced yet, and we know that Lizzie is keen on Josiah Beardsley. There’s a good chance that the show will skip over everything to do with the McGillvarys since they’re not a major part of the overall story. We can jump straight to Lizzie and the twins.
Malva’s part is the one that I expect to see. We need to see the pretense of innocence for Malva. This all sets up the shock when Claire finds Malva pregnant but also murdered. I don’t think it would be as shocking if we didn’t have that pretense of her being so innocent in the story.
What did you spot while reading A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 46? Let us know in the comments below.
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