The question I proposed earlier and point I was trying to make was this:
Neither the CP character or the RQ character's wives / significant others / love lives, etc. were ever mentioned or even alluded to. They were portrayed as watchers, rather than doers, when it came to love. We are shown time and time again of their spying eyes.
and
Both of them knew some of their client / employee's history. CP could obviously see that JS had beaus and pursuers, being such a strikingly beautiful woman, and had to fend them off before. RQ knew JG from hiring him the previous year and also knew there'd been something other than sheepherding going on up there.
Thoughts?
Yes, he did, but what he knew was going on up there was sex, not love. This is a culture that clearly draws a distinction between the two--and as a gay man whose been out a long time, I can certainly vouch for the fact that among gay men, the two, sex and love, don't necessarily go together (I'm sure straights can vouch for this, too, but I speak only from the life that I know). As for the culture, remember the old rancher who told Annie Proulx that he always sent his sheepherders off in pairs so they could "poke" one another if they got lonely? These are not people who even recognize the possibility of love between two men--even Ennis has trouble with that, apparently.
My memory of Christopher Plummer's character is of a controlling, possessive person. Jane Seymour was his "discovery," and her "career" was his creation. If she went off and gave up her career for love, he had a lot to lose. His purpose in life was solely invested in her career.