The girls are fretting about the power outage, but Barnabas makes light of it. He says, Electricity [pronouncing it carefully] is something I don’t have a problem with. Then he rhapsodizes about how beautiful the Old House looks by candlelight--as it was meant to be seen, he adds.
The girls listen raptly as Barnabas tells them his story--and so do I, every time I see it. This is one of the best scenes in the whole series, I think.
The end of the story doesn't seem too happy to me, at least not for Barnabas. He does note that Josette's face is serene in death--but he adds bitterly, "As if this was the best possible ending to her life."
Carolyn promptly goes to her room so she can be scared all by herself. Vicki lingers to wonder about the cows and Maggie. She observes, I don’t think we’ll find out what happened to Maggie by any logical process. Barnabas answers gravely, You’re a very clever girl, Miss Winters. Please take care that what happened to her doesn’t happen to you. It could happen to anyone.
It's almost comical to watch Jason blustering as if he's still the boss of Willie. I don't think Barnabas knows anything about the hold Jason has over Elizabeth, because I don't think Jason ever told Willie. He might not be so indifferent if he knew, because he does depend on Elizabeth's hospitality in letting him have the Old House. If Jason were in charge, he'd want Barnabas gone.
Barnabas returns to the Old House. The interior looks a little nicer each time we see it, but Barnabas is indifferent to Willie’s hard work as he screams for Willie and brandishes the cane.
