It is time for Minnie and Jamie to talk in The Scottish Prisoner Chapter 13. This discussion sets Jamie up with another mission and raises far more questions.
Minnie decides to visit Jamie in the middle of the night. Fortunately for her and Jamie, nobody sees this. What could have happened had John seen it all?
We get to learn more about Minnie’s history and what she knows about situations right now. She gives Jamie another task.
Breaking down The Scottish Prisoner Chapter 13
Jamie is awoken by someone coming into his room in the middle of the night. It is Minnie, and she wants to catch Jamie up on a few things. She makes it clear that Hal knows that she was a spy and that she knew Jamie during the Jacobite Rising. That takes one concern off the table.
Minnie also shares that Edward Twelvetrees has been sending money to Ireland. He is connected to Siverly, and Minnie needs John and Hal kept away from the man. There is already bad blood between the family—Minnie doesn’t go into all of that, and Jamie doesn’t really need to know it—and it’s clear that Minnie knows a bit more about the money that Twelvetrees is sending.
Minnie points out that her father always said that Jamie was the smartest of the Jacobite spies. That is quite a complement, but it’s clear that Minnie is still hiding a few things. Minnie makes a threat by telling Jamie that if he keeps her secrets, she will keep his. Does she know about Willie’s true identity? That’s his main concern right now, but is there something else that could get him in trouble?
John does see Minnie go back to her room, but he doesn’t see her leave Jamie’s. So, he is none the wiser there. He just assumes that one of the children needed Minnie.
When he walks past Jamie’s room, he hears Jamie screaming and talking in his sleep. He misses Claire deeply and calls out for her in his dreams. It’s a heartbreaking moment as we all know that he gave Claire up for Claire’s and the baby’s own good. John just believes that Claire is dead at this point.
Could this chapter be used in a TV adaptation?
I would expect to see this chapter used if there was an adaptation of The Scottish Prisoner. There arguably needs to be this chapter considering everything that Minnie clearly knows. She is a very smart woman, and I would love a whole book just about her past and what she knows now.
The chapter sets up Jamie for another mission: to keep Twelvetrees away from John and Hal. This is clearly important later, so we would need to see her set up the mission in the first place.
I would also like to see John’s reaction as he hears Jamie’s crying out in his sleep. It’s a heartbreaking moment, and we need to see the compassion that John has for Jamie. This is more than an infatuation later on, so we need to see it grow now.
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