Lizzie and the twins’ secret is out in Outlander Book 6, Chapter 73
Jamie and Claire learn what Lizzie has been up to in Outlander Book 6, Chapter 73. It’s time for a rather interesting and scandalous storyline in the book.
We start off pretty simple. Claire and Jamie are back at Fraser’s Ridge. They’re working with the whiskey, and it looks like this chapter is mostly focused on life and talk of the coming war. That changes when Mr. Wemyss turns up looking for help.
There’s trouble with Lizzie, and he notes that it would be better if his daughter was dead. What could possibly have happened if he thinks it would have been better for her to die? This certainly sounds serious.
It turns out that it’s to do with the twins. And both of them. No, Lizzie hasn’t been raped, but she has been with both of the boys, and it turns out that this is far more serious than anyone could have initially imagined. Jamie needs to tackle the situation with care.
The chapter foreshadows a little, but it’s mostly about the latest plot development. The foreshadowing is actually in the bit discussing the upcoming war and what the men who will be involved in it are doing.
This chapter was used in the TV series, although there was a small change to it. The change was missing out Lizzie’s dad, who hasn’t been part of the story, and I’ll get to my thoughts on that in the adaptation section.
Let’s dive into A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 73.
Just the Outlander chapter
We start with Claire and Jamie dealing with whiskey casks. This is when the topic of the Committee of Correspondence comes up. The Committee wants to build a large militia and get their hands on thousands of muskets. It wasn’t easy for Jamie to get his hands on just 30 of them, so that’s going to be interesting for the others. Jamie is happy that he’s not part of that.
Mr. Wemyss interrupts the conversation. Something has happened with Lizzie, and he notes that Lizzie would be better dead.
It turns out that Lizzie is pregnant, but she doesn’t know who the father is. There is a moment Jamie worries that Young Ian did something, but Mr. Wemyss notes that he would have been happy had it been Ian. It’s one of the Beardsley twins. It’s not that she can’t tell the two apart, but that she has been with both of them on purpose. Even the twins don’t know who the father is.
Claire and Jamie go to see Lizzie and the twins to find out what’s going on. Lizzie has fallen for both of the twins, and they are both in love with her. They all want to remain together and raise the baby as a family, but that’s not going to happen. While Jamie and Mr. Wemyss discuss things, Claire finds out from Lizzie what happened.
It was during a malaria attack. The twins helps to rub the lotion all over her, and that led to them sleeping together. There was an instance of Lizzie not telling them apart, but she realizes that doesn’t matter. She loves both of the twins, and they love her. Why should it matter? They’re not hurting anyone.
Claire agrees that in a city, they could get away with this. On the Ridge, they can’t. It would bring shame and scandal.
Jamie decides that Lizzie needs to marry one of the twins and tells Lizzie to choose. She can’t, so one of the twins suggests that draw straws, and that’s what they do. Keziah ends up marrying Lizzie with the marriage contract originally written up for Lizzie and Manfred being used with Manfred’s name replaced with Keziah’s. Josiah is told to leave until the baby is born.
Josiah does leave, hoping happiness for his brother. That seems to be the matter solved.
Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter
There is some foreshadowing in the bit that involves the talk of the muskets. The war is coming. It won’t be long until Jamie has to officially switch sides. We keep getting this notion dropped to us throughout the book.
The very end brings us the major foreshadowing. Josiah walks away without much of an argument. It’s too easy. Jo and Kezzie couldn’t decide who would marry her, and Lizzie didn’t want to choose. Why would Jo just walk away like that? There is far more to come with this storyline. You kind of have to feel sorry for Lizzie’s dad.
Adapting A Breath of Snow and Ashes chapter
The chapter was used in the TV series but with some changes. The major change was the lack of Mr. Wemyss. The series never brought Lizzie’s dad from Scotland. This makes sense considering just how little time there would be to include it in. The viewers would need it explaining why and how Lizzie’s dad made it to North Carolina. That takes time in the book, and would take too much time for the show.
It would also mean another actor to fit into the story. Everything can be handled without him, especially since we didn’t get the Manfred storyline at all.
Jamie drew straws and sent Josiah away. That was the important part of the story. Well, that and Lizzie explaining to Claire how everything happened. I still love that scene, especially with all the facial expressions from Caitriona Balfe.
I did appreciate the way this chapter was changed. Josiah put up a bit of an argument before leaving, which did feel a little more realistic considering the circumstances. However, even in the book, it’s clear that there’s more to come.
What did you spot while reading A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 73? Let us know in the comments below.
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