We learn a lot more about Hal and his wives in The Scottish Prisoner Chapter 11. It turns out that Lord John Grey doesn’t know a lot.
I love when we learn more about side characters. After all, some of these characters become far more important in later stories, and Hal certainly becomes important in Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone. So does his and Minnie’s son Benjamin.
This chapter explains more about Benjamin and how he came into the world. Is he Hal’s biological son?
Breaking down The Scottish Prisoner Chapter 11
The chapter starts with Lord John Grey bumping into Minnie. It’s time to learn more about Minnie and even about Esme. You see, Minnie knows a lot about Hal’s first wife, including that she was a narcissistic woman who just wanted attention from everyone. She had an affair to get Hal’s attention. Well, it certainly got it, but things didn’t end all that well for her.
She then tells John about how she was six months pregnant when Hal married her in Amsterdam. Only Harry Quarry and a barmaid who spoke no English were the witnesses for them. Yes, it was a rushed marriage, and that’s because Hal knew he needed to make an honest woman of Minnie. He couldn’t have a child born out of wedlock.
John does wonder if Ben is Hal’s biological son. How would Hal know? He just trusts that Minnie slept with nobody else after him in those six months? I love that this continues to show us how the Grey men have been raised, though. They will raise other men’s sons, even the potential ones. It’s a common theme throughout Outlander.
Minnie seems to bait Lord John Grey when it comes to Jamie. She points out that he is pretending to be a gentleman, which John has no choice but to rebut her. He points out that Jamie once had land and tenants to look after. He is a “landed gentleman.” Minnie is amused, and considering that we know Minnie and Jamie know each other, it tells us that she knows this and wanted to see how John would react.
Minnie does point out that Jamie may not be someone they can fully trust. There’s a chance that Jamie missed out the word “white,” making it clear that this document that they landed their hands on has something to do with the Jacobites, because the Jacobites wore the white rose of the Stuarts.
This does lead to John thinking a little more like the smart man that he is. He realizes that the document is likely a coded message for Jacobites. Is it possible that Siverly is a Jacobite? Does Jamie still have some leanings that way?
Could this chapter be used in a TV adaptation?
If The Scottish Prisoner was used for an adaptation, I could certainly see this chapter being used. The ending of it alone is enough to warrant an inclusion. Minnie offers a hint that there is a Jacobite connection, and that Jamie may not be a man who can be trusted. The topic of trust always comes up between Jamie and John, and I think this is the book where we see that really become a focus to develop the friendship they eventually have.
I would also love to see a little more about Minnie and her past. I could see the chapter being changed a little, though. I would love to see Minnie and Hal’s marriage to play out on screen instead of just having Minnie tell us about it. There would be a way to have a flashback before John and Minnie meet, making it clear that Minnie is going to be a big part of this bit of the story.
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