1243 - Catherine, asks Bramwell--is Morgan the only one who has the key to this room?
Yes, she says, he's hidden it and won't tell anyone where he put it. This trick must mean Morgan has gone insane, says Bramwell. I wish I could help you, says Catherine tearfully. What about breaking down the doors? he asks--no, they're too heavy. There is no other way out of there? she asks. There's no other way out, so, resigned, he says, I'll stay here and do whatever I must. I'll stay too, she assures him--all night, right outside the door--we can talk to each other. No, that won't do any good--whatever is destined to happen will happen regardless of what we do, he says--it would be just as well if you don't stay by the door. I wonder what happened? muses Catherine--how was Morgan able to get you to come up here? Bramwell reads her Morgan's letter. "The truth?" she says--what does he mean by that? It could only mean one thing, says Bramwell. She closes her eyes in despair--Morgan must have learned about the baby, she realizes. Yes, agrees Bramwell. How? asks Catherine--I never told anyone and I'm sure you didn't, either! I don't know, he says, but when I came in here to look for him, Morgan was waiting for me, and hit me from behind--I don't know what he's done--you must go downstairs and face him. I don't want to leave you, she protests. Catherine, says Bramwell, there's nothing you can do for me, if I thought you could, I'd say stay--go downstairs, I'll look after myself the best way I can.
Morgan, come to your senses! Begs Julia. You're wasting your time, he asserts. This is the last time I'm going to ask you, she warns. You may ask, demand, cajole, threaten me until hell won't have it, but Bramwell will spend the night in the room! insists Morgan What do you hope to gain by doing this? asks Kendrick. The satisfaction of seeing him insane or dead in the morning, says Morgan, pouring a drink. What about Melanie? asks Kendrick--don't you care about her? I took her into consideration, Morgan assures him--the prophecy said she would remain insane until someone went into that room, and someone has. I was the one picked to go into the room! shouts Kendrick. It makes no difference who goes in, says Morgan--Brutus only wants a sacrificial lamb--a family member--and Bramwell is eminently more qualified than you. I will hold you responsible if Melanie isn't well when the night is over! vows Kendrick. Are you threatening me? demands Morgan. No, promising you, says Kendrick. How dare you, says Morgan, advancing on Kendrick.
Stop it, orders Julia, getting between and separating them--we have a whole night to get through, we must not fight. Quite "wite," Julia, says Morgan there's no point in that. Morgan, asks Julia, why have you done this, why now? Catherine enters. Coldly, Morgan suggests, "For an answer to that, why don't you ask the little mother?"
Everyone stares at Catherine. The little mother? repeats Julia--what on earth does that mean?
Catherine icily says, I want to talk to Morgan alone. I demand an explanation for what you just said, says Julia. "Don't leave everyone in suspense, darling," says Morgan. Reluctantly, Catherine admits, I'm going to have a child. "A baby," says Julia--"my congratulations to both of you. But what does that have to do with..." Kendrick looks speculative. Morgan interrupts Julia--the happy little announcement has been made now, that's all that needs to be discussed, if you don't mind--I have something to discuss with my wife. Catherine, did you go to the room? asks Julia. I spoke to Bramwell, who is all right for now, answers Catherine. Morgan hustles his wife upstairs. Kendrick is puzzled about this odd exchange. I think I am beginning to understand, says Julia--I won't explain it to you, Kendrick, not now, perhaps, not ever. (I guess just in case they decide to pass the baby off as Morgan's, why else would she have said this?) You know a lot more about the locked room than I do, says Kendrick--what IS going to happen to Bramwell? I have no idea, she says. You must have some idea, he says--you've seen what has happened to others. No one has ever known what happens to anyone in the room, says Julia--death, madness or possession are the three possible results of going into the locked room. But didn't you and Morgan go into the room? he asks. Yes, she says, Morgan took me there during the day when it was safe, but it was still a terrifying experience--Morgan took me into an adjoining secret file room... She suddenly remembers--Bramwell must not touch either of those corpses or risk possession! Julia explains about the two people murdered in 1680 by Brutus Collins--still perfectly preserved. Kendrick is astonished. Bramwell must not touch either of the corpses, says Julia. They dash to the locked room to warn him.
Bramwell, sitting, in a chair, hears wind blow through the room, then the sound of tinkling glass. Seeing the candles gutter, he stands, listening, and demands, Brutus, show yourself and be finished with it! He lifts a candelabra and goes through the door leading to the secret file room. In the records room, he finds the two corpses (who don't appear to be played by Prentice and Barrett at this point); they are covered with lots more shrouding over their faces.) Bramwell, startled by this sight, examines the dead bodies, sets the candelabra down and reaches to touch the dead James Forsythe.
Hearing Julia's voice calling his name prevents Bramwell from laying a hand on the body. Kendrick stands besides Julia. Bramwell returns to the main bedroom--I hear you, he assures her. Are you all right? she asks. Yes, he says. I found the secret room, and was in there when I heard you. Hand to her throat, Julia warns, whatever you do, you must not touch either of the corpses--because that's the mistake Morgan made, and what led to his possession. Who are those people? asks Bramwell. Julia relates the grisly story of Brutus' murder of James Forsythe and Amanda Collins. What a horrible way for them to have died, says Bramwell, bowing his head. Remember what I said--stay away from them, cautious Julia. Yes, he says, yes, can you tell me anything else? No, she says. How is Catherine? he asks. She's with Morgan, says Julia--Bramwell, I want you to know we're praying for you. Beside her, Kendrick nods. Bramwell thanks her and heads back into the secret file room.
The confrontation in the Morgan-Catherine bedroom is hotter than their sex life. He asks for an explanation, but she doesn't know how to begin. At the beginning, he suggests--but I suspect that would take you all the way back to your and Bramwell's childhood--that IS when your cheap little love affair began, isn't it? I know I have done you a great wrong, she admits, but can't defend myself. He needles her--"Tell me, were you intimate from the beginning, or was that a development after you met me?" Please, Morgan, don't! she begs, sitting on the bed. How completely blind I was, continues Morgan, to blame Bramwell alone for Daphne's death--you are just as much to blame as he is--more, because she was your own sister!" Catherine, furious, says, you know I never wanted to hurt Daphne! "Daphne is dead, that is true, you and Bramwell killed her, that is also very true! he accuses. No, says Catherine. You are the one who is false, rants Morgan, you and Bramwell, Daphne knew it from the beginning, just as I did. You did? asks Catherine, surprised. But there was a difference between Daphne and me, says Morgan--she wasn't able to lie to herself as I was, convince herself that everything would turn out all right, as I did--until something happened that even I couldn't rationalize away--I followed you last night, saw you in his arms in the gazebo...and I heard you talking about the child!"
I knew you were behaving strangely when you came home last night, says Catherine--you had changed--I should have guessed why. Morgan: "I can never hope to describe to you how I felt, to suddenly know it was never me you loved." That isn't true! protests Catherine. This is not time for denials, he insists--it is true--you love Bramwell. . .the only thing I couldn't understand was, why couldn't you be honest?--how could you let it go so far?" I didn't know, protests Catherine, it was a moment of weakness. A moment of weakness? he sneers--how charitable you are with your own sins! It happened before we were married, she points out. But while we were engaged, he says--or are you going to deny that, too? I can't deny it, she admits tearfully. But you went ahead and married me anyway! he says bitterly. I didn't dream. . .I didn't learn about the baby until after we were married, she says, crying--I don't expect forgiveness. That's fine, he says cruelly, because I won't give you any! What will you do? she asks, about us--and Bramwell? At least you admit your concern for Bramwell, he notes. I don't want anyone else to be harmed ever again, she says. Hurt isn't as easy to remove as it is to inflict, says Morgan. I know I can't undo the wrong I've done, she agrees. Correct, he says, but there is one way I can gain some small measure of satisfaction, and I have done it. By locking Bramwell in the room? she asks. Yes, says Morgan, and I hope he rots there! Catherine begins to cry harder--please have mercy, she beg--take your wrath out on me, because I deserve it, but set Bramwell free--if you do, I swear as God is my witness, I won't set eyes on him again. Coldly, Morgan says, "I don't believe you, Catherine, and my guess is, God doesn't believe you, either. No power on this earth can ever separate you and Bramwell."
Then, in a gesture that probably produced a few wet dreams, then and now, Catherine sinks to her knees, grabs Morgan's coat and hem and pleads, "I humiliate myself in front of you, get down on my knees, I swear I will do anything in the world you ask, if you do this one last thing for me, I'll be yours, yours forever!" Is your love for Bramwell that great? he asks. She doesn't respond. All right, he says, we will go to the locked room together, and I will unlock the door and let him out. Eagerly, thrilled, Catherine follows him, unaware that madness has taken over his soul and she has sealed her fate by offering to sacrifice herself for her child's father.
Drawing room - It's only eight o'clock, notes Kendrick--still 10 hours to wait. I know, says Julia. How can you sit there so calmly? he asks. I'm not in the least calm, says Julia, I've just learned to endure the waiting. Why bother to wait at all? he asks--why don't we just go up there and break down the door? No, she says, that would only make matters worse--someone must spend the entire night in the locked room, that's how it's always been. What if it was changed this time? asks Kendrick. We've tried to break the curse before, says Julia, but if we get Bramwell out ahead of time, it will make Brutus' ghost angrier than ever. How, wonders Kendrick, can you all bear it? You will, she predicts, when you've been here long enough. He leaves to see Melanie.
Catherine presses her ear to the locked lottery room door--I don't hear anything, Morgan, she says. He's most likely in the secret file room, says Morgan--I'll get the key. He retrieves the key from the vase. Thank you, she says. Don't thank me, he suggests coldly. You won't regret it, I swear to you, she says, giving him what can only be described as a coquettish look. No, he says, I'm sure I won't. Morgan unlocks the door. Catherine steps in. He gives her a solid push, then slams and locks the door behind her. Morgan, no! she cries, trying the doorknobs and finding them unyielding--what are you doing? He shouts, "You don't believe I believed a word you said for a minute, do you?" "You're not going to shut me up in this room?" she wails. "Oh yes, I can, my dear unfaithful wife," he brags. Morgan, you can't! she protests. "You and Bramwell wanted to be together," says Morgan, "well you are together--and I hope you rot together like James and Amanda did!" Catherine stares fearfully behind her, terrified, at the room where so many Collinses died or went insane.
NOTES: What a guy Morgan turned into, huh? Locking a pregnant woman in a room known to cause death or madness. Well, I give him the Prick of the Year Award, hands down. And I must say, Keith Prentice turned in his best performance to date here. Too bad it's almost over.
That scene between Morgan and Catherine was quite something. That she got down on her knees to beg for Bramwell's life, promising, essentially, to remain Morgan's wife and never look at Bramwell again, convinced him where her true feelings were, if nothing she said before did. The problem is, he would never be able to look at the child created by Bramwell and Catherine without hating it, and that surely would have destroyed their marriage eventually, anyway.
Poor Kendrick and Julia are forced to stand watch over this insanity. I already think Julia suspects the real reason Morgan has done this to Bramwell, especially now that Catherine's pregnancy has been revealed. Once Julia realizes that Morgan has pushed Catherine into the room, too, she will know for sure, if she doesn't already. Morgan would never condemn his own child to what goes on in that room.
That piece of statuary guarding the double doors is very creepy. I just wanted to make note of it.
Love, Robin