Yes, I thought the same thing.
Remember the look on Aguirre's face when he left Jack in the scene on 'chopping wood'? It certainly did not look like trust or admiration. You could tell that Jack was quite puzzled over that look. And what are we to make of Jack's look when Aguirre points his binoculars on Ennis way up in the mountains?
Why was Jack so nonchalant about leaving Brokeback when he announced the news to Ennis while taking down the tent? Could he have suspected something similar to what we are now speculating upon? My gut reaction is: no. Jack must have not yet known that Aguirre knew. But his nonchalance puzzles me. Perhaps the key to this nonchalance is his willingness to to take things in stride: 'Let be. Let be.'
I thought Jack was so nonchalant about leaving BBM because he actually thought he and Ennis would be seeing each other again, maybe even regularly. Maybe that's why Jack offerred him the loan--sure would be a good reason to see Ennis again. Also, Jack says "You going to do this again next summer?" like he expects Ennis to say "yes." I think Ennis partly refused the offer of money out of pride. Ennis isn't the type to be beholding of anyone, and I think Ennis was also desperately trying to separate himself from Jack. After all, he told Jack it was "one shot thing" for the summer. Little did Ennis know he'd fall so deeply in love with Jack.
As for Jack knowing Aguirre know, Jack must have been suspicious. Aguirre with those big binoculars, pointing them up at Ennis and giving Jack the disdainful looks. I think Jack probably was suspicious that Aguirre had seen them, but, luckily, said nothing to Ennis.
Refusing the money out of pride is certainly in Ennis's character. And I do agree that Ennis was desperately trying to separate himself from Jack, even though he already knew the strong love he had for Jack deep inside.
I had always wondered how the scene between Aguirre and Jack would have played out: Aguirre telling Jack to bring the sheep down, Jack perhaps visibly disappointed, and Aguirre and him probably exchanging looks. One can guess that Aguirre's would have been a look of contempt. I wonder what Jack's would have been. Bewilderment/surprise? Perhaps he too was completely caught off guard. Or perhaps Jack gave Aguirre a knowing look, similar to the one he gave Aguirre when the latter slyly 'outed' him the next summer...
Up until the scene where Jack goes back the following summer, I would've said that Jack knew that Aguirre knew, but the look on Jack's face when Aguirre says the line about "stemming the rose", looks to me like he's shocked and horrified to realise Aguirre knows, although maybe he suspected Aguirre knew, and it was just the shock of having it confirmed.
As for Aguirre making them come down early, I think it was probably a business decision rather than being entirely personal, although it might have played a part. He didn't get them to come down straight away after he caught them, it must have been at least a few weeks, cause enough time had passed for Jack's uncle to recover from pneumonia, and again, when Jack goes back, Aguirre says they weren't being paid to leave the dogs to babysit the sheep, it seems he's less concerned about what they were doing, than the fact they were doing it on his time.
As for Jack's nonchalance, I bet it wasn't there at first, but by the time Ennis came back he'd had time to take it all in, and probably convinced himself that their bond was too strong to be broken now, and they would stay together after they got down. Poor Jack...
:\'( :\'(
And as for the loan, I thought Jack was as skint as Ennis was, so where was this money going to come from? Obviously just a way to get the money issue out of the way, so they could talk about what
really mattered
But, yet again, poor Jack's plans never work out the way he intended :\'( :\'( :\'(
