Brian and Murtagh accompany Dougal home from Fort William, where the women sit in the great hall and sew burial shrouds. Colum vibrates with anger when he sees his brother, calling Dougal selfish (and then some) before Maura goes to her husband’s side and says she’s glad to see him.
Dougal soberly acknowledges Angus’ sacrifice in his own survival, then makes sure that his new buds Brian and Murtagh will be welcome at the castle. Which is good and all, “but you canna stay here,” Colum spits to his brother, reasoning that the British will be looking for Dougal after his escape. Instead, he’s to stay in a nearby crofter’s cottage.
Once that’s sorted, all Brian wants to do is go see his wife. “Steel yourself,” Mrs. Fitz tells him. (Side note: MUST you always be so dramatic, woman? A little more info/context might’ve been nice here, all things considered.) So Brian rushes to Ellens’ room to find her wrung-out and still in bed; she starts to weep when she sees him. Between sobs, she chokes out that she lost the baby and that she’d already fallen in love with the child, whom she imagined was a girl.
Brian is definitely affected by the news, but he draws her close and whispers that they can try again once she’s healed. Ellen grows even more agitated as she fills him in on what Simon did, and how the doctor says now it’s not likely that she’ll ever have a child. “I understand if you want to leave me,” she whimpers, heartbroken. Brian is definitely having THOUGHTS upon learning that his own father was behind this attack, but he takes Ellen’s face in his hands and reminds her that he loves her. “Remember that,” he says, then leaves abruptly.
Ellen knows Brian is heading to Leathers to end Simon’s life, and she plans to try to stop him. But Jocasta makes a very good and poetic point: “Not even the hounds of hell could stop him now.”
Later, elsewhere in the castle, Dougal is on top of Maura in their bed, halfheartedly thrusting, when they both kind of give up and he rolls off, looking dejected. After a moment, Maura gets off the bed and stands in front of him, tenderly touching his face. “Be with me,” she says quietly, and kisses him. The gesture shakes him out of his despondence, and he kisses her back, then they return to their previous activities but in a far more reverent way.
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