Angelique prays to the master of darkness (as she calls him): "Help me to restore the identity of this child in order that Quentin Collins shall be mine--and yours." So now we know the real price Quentin will pay--no wonder she didn't tell him when he made the deal with her. [spoiler]In the original 1897, unaltered by Barnabas, does Quentin actually marry Angelique? Is that how he starts to become Quentin the evil ghost? I think the skeleton can only have been Quentin's. Why would Quentin the ghost want them to bury Trask's skeleton?[/spoiler]
Poor Edward is still stuck as the "gentleman's gentleman." LE really shines in the part. He and NB must have had fun with the conversation through the door.
Angelique is actually nice to Jamison once he is back to being himself. I guess it's just her professional pride in a job well done.
As good as her word, Pansity returns with the key to the tower room and lets Edward out. Of course he's been restored to all his angry pomposity and is shocked that she is "wearing paint." Pansity is disappointed in the change in him as well. Edward tells her, I think you’ve gone mad, and stomps off out of the room. One of us has, luv, C/P says in bemusement. She leaves, closing the door behind her.
Jamison, however, looks at him with terror and asks, Why are you trying to kill David Collins?
Angelique looks at Quentin for a moment, then turns and walks away, leaving them more or less alone, in an unusually courteous gesture for her. Why did you ask me that question, Jamison? Quentin asks. I don’t know, Jamison replies. It just came into my head, so I asked it. Do you know who David Collins is? Quentin asks. He is someone that-- someone that you are trying to kill, Jamison answers with some hesitation. But you don’t know who he is or what he looks like? Quentin asks. No, Jamison answers in confusion, and I don’t understand why you would want to kill anyone. I don’t, Quentin assures him fervently. You’ve been through a terrible experience, a long nightmare--but it’s over now, and we’re going to take very good care of you. Just then, the restored Edward stomps in. I thought everyone had died, he says sarcastically, proving to Quentin that he is back to his usual self too. You’ve come out of it too, he observes. Out of what? Edward asks crossly. I only know I found myself locked in the Tower Room without the remotest idea of how I got there. I put you in there, Quentin answers. You and Jamison were both in a state of possession for the last month, imposed on you by Count Petofi. Have you lost your mind? Edward asks. [Although he doesn’t react to the strange name, Edward doesn’t even know who Count Petofi is! He introduced himself to Edward as Victor Fenn-Gibbon.] No, Quentin replies, but you came very close to losing yours. That’s absurd, Edward says. What’s today’s date? Quentin asks. The twenty-third of July, Edward replies firmly. It’s the twenty-eighth of August, Quentin tells him. Here is the Bangor Herald--dated August 28. [The Bangor Herald was not, as usual, made from the Wall Street Journal. Previously papers such as the Collinsport Call were made from the WSJ, but the origin of the Herald is not clear.] I’ve lost a whole month of my life, Edward murmurs in shock--and has Jamison, too? Yes, Quentin replies. Leave me alone with Jamison, Edward says. Not yet, Quentin replies, we have a great deal of talking to do. Not yet, Edward says back. I must speak to my son. You and Angelique will wait for me in the drawing room. Quentin and Angelique leave. Edward gently asks Jamison, How do you feel? I feel fine, Jamison replies, but I have no memory of what happened. I feel the same way, Edward says. It’s frightening enough to know it really happened. I promise you that nothing like this will ever happen again--we will either resume our normal lives or leave Collinwood. I promise that.
In the drawing room, Angelique closes the doors so that she and Quentin can argue in private, but Pansity eavesdrops just outside. Angelique wants Quentin to uphold his end of the bargain and marry her, but he is noncommital. You could sound more enthusiastic, Angelique comments. Quentin acknowledges, I entered into this reluctantly and will fulfill it no less reluctantly. Disappointed, Angelique says, Oh, Quentin, I’m sorry to hear you say that, because I-- like you very much. But you don’t love me any more than I love you, Quentin says. Perhaps I do, she says. Shouldn’t you wait till you’re sure? Quentin asks. No, she replies, we agreed to marry, and we will, within the month. I will leave the exact date up to you. I’ll let you know the place and time within a few days, he says.
Out in the foyer, Pansity is furious at the prospect that Quentin will marry "that one." She scuttles off when she hears Edward coming. Edward politely asks Angelique to leave. Edward says, I gather this possession didn’t extend to you. Do you have any idea why? Not in the slightest, Quentin replies. What have you been doing all this time? Edward asks. I was busy day and night, trying to undo what Count Petofi did, Quentin snaps. Who is this Petofi? Edward asks irritably. A former houseguest of yours, Quentin replies--Victor Fenn-Gibbon. Are you serious? Edward asks. Quentin explains, His real name is Count Andreas Petofi, a Hungarian nobleman. His friendship with the earl of Hampshire is pure fiction--something I tried to warn you about i before Jamison’s possession began, but you wouldn’t believe me. Edward does the manly thing for once. Ashamed, he nods and says, I know--I thought it all too incredible then. I’m sorry, Quentin. Graciously, Quentin admits, If I had been in your place, I might not have believed it either. Gazing out the french windows, Edward remarks, This family has had more than its share of tragedy over the past six months. We must set this house in order, the two of us. But what he really wants to do is find and destroy Barnabas--a prospect that makes Quentin very uncomfortable indeed. Quentin argues, Edward, if we don’t deal with Petofi and Trask, there won’t be any family left to be concerned about. Edward huffs, I will deal with them at the proper time. But first I am going to find Barnabas and drive a stake through his heart. He marches out of the room and goes upstairs, leaving Quentin looking miserable at the thought of his friend.
C/P instantly pops back into the drawing room and tells Quentin, Are you contemplating what life would be like with Miss Moon Eyes? she asks sarcastically. Leave me alone, he says, pouring himself a drink. You’re not going to marry Angelique, and you know it, C/P says. You don’t love her. You tried to tell her that, but she wouldn’t listen. Maybe she’d listen if I were to tell her it’s me you love. You haven’t been yourself, Quentin says impatiently--you don’t know what you’re talking about. With a hand to her hair, Charity insists, I’ve seen the way you look at me. I know how you feel about me--you can’t hide it. I’m not hiding anything, Quentin insists, I’m going to marry Angelique. C/P insists that he loves her, not Angelique. He says not, leaving her looking small and lost. But only for a moment. When she realizes that he is going to marry Angelique, she lunges at him with a letter opener. Quentin grabs her hand and tries to stop her--still holding the brandy snifter in his other hand. For god’s sake put that down! he shouts. Edward runs in and pulls her hand back, sending the letter opener flying. Edward retrieves it, and Quentin lets her go. She’s crying now, and Edward asks his brother irritably, How much more of this madness must we endure? Quentin says, She’s been like this for a week--another example of Petofi’s unique powers. Maybe this will convince you that something has to be done about him. Leave the room, Edward orders Quentin. I’ll deal with Charity.
Edward shuts the doors after Quentin leaves. He starts, Miss Trask-- She shushes him. I need complete silence, she intones, so I can concentrate on the future. It’s coming to me, and it’s the very near future, she that concerns us--the tenth of September, yes! I see this ’ouse. [And we see it too, as in her mind’s eye.] It's late, it is very late at night. There is a storm coming. The house is dark, but not everyone is in bed. I hear music! Quentin's music--coming from downstairs. Now someone is coming to the house. It’s Angelique! [We see Angelique (wearing a beautiful broad-striped pastel silk shawl over her leaf-green gown) approach the drawing room and open the doors. Quentin! she calls. I’ve been waiting for you at the cottage. We hear Quentin’s music as Angelique sees his now-finished portrait--which has a huge bloodstain over the heart. She sees a trail of drops of blood that has dripped onto the floor. She follows the blood trail out the door, into the foyer, up the stairs, and along the upstairs hallway to a closed door. She opens the door and finds Quentin in the Tower Room, lying on the floor. On his chest is a bloodstain exactly matching the one in the portrait. C/P screams, It is his death I see! It’s his death! She runs from the room, leaving Edward gaping in amazement........
And so the episode comes to an end, leaving us with the prospect of-- what? The Many Deaths of Quentin Collins?