Outlander Book Club: Lord John and the Haunted Soldier Part 2B breakdown

While Jamie Fraser isn’t seen in Lord John and the Haunted Soldier, he is mentioned. In Part 2B, Lord John Grey writes a letter to him.

This chapter opens a lot of John’s thoughts and fears. We get to see the relationship between John and Jamie grow. This is the first time, I think, that John has written to Jamie and it feels weird to him. However, it’s important, and it’s just the start of such letters between the friends.

We also get a glimpse of the ghost. I think it’s clear in this moment that John is the “haunted soldier” in the title.

Breaking down Lord John and the Haunted Soldier Part 2B

The chapter starts with John getting information from Tom Byrd. A lot of it is gossip, but there has been talk about what happened to Captain Fanshawe. Nobody really knows, but he does visit Thackeray often and Thackeray offers some compassion.

John needs to see the Consortium. Maude, Edgar’s wife, is just as angry at the accusations as her husband. Fanshawe and Trevorson believe that Oswald put Marchmont up to it. The men think that they should head to London to confront the accusations, but that is just going to escalate the situation. So, the three agree that they should write a letter of complaint.

They are arguing when John goes to his room. John is too nervous to sleep, so he decides to write to Jamie. The last time the two spoke, it seemed like the words said were unforgivable. However, John decides that he must try.

At first, the letter seems incoherent. John takes a break, which is when he sees the face of someone who looks like Lister in the mirror. However, Lister isn’t there. Is John being haunted by a man he didn’t even know? It’s clear that John has demons that he needs to contend with, and he goes back to writing. He’s able to get out that he is afraid he won’t be able to fight or command anymore.

As John thinks about how much strength and resilience Jamie has shown over the years, John asks for forgiveness for the situation after the tartan at Ardsmuir. Why ask for Jamie for forgiveness, though? There are thoughts of Jamie’s body, especially seeing Jamie naked in a way that neither of them wanted.

John finishes the letter with “I love you…I wish it were not so.” This is because he doesn’t think that he will see Jamie again. He doesn’t even send the letter to Jamie. He throws everything into the fire.

The next morning, John gets a note from Coles, which includes sketches and descriptions of Anne’s jewelry. Now he is able to get home, but not without Maude stopping him. She talks about the newspaper article about John’s heroism, but John moves the conversation onto why Fanshawe called Oswald a snake.

It turns out that Oswald spread rumors that Edgar was corrupt in obtaining government contracts. This is news he’s not heard before, and he needs to see Harry Quarry about this. There may be something in this.

Could this chapter be used in a TV series?

I still don’t see this story being used if there was ever a Lord John Grey series. If it was, it would be hard for some of this chapter to be used. The first part definitely would. We would need to see the men discuss what to do. I could also see the end being used, as it helps to push the storyline forward to figure out what Oswald is actually up to.

It’s the middle bit. Too much is internalized, and that’s not something that can be shown on screen. We could see John writing the letter and ending it with “I love you” before throwing it into the fire, but it would be a lot of internalized thoughts to put on paper for people to read. The only option really is for a voice over, and that only works if voice overs have been used in this series before.