i've been watching the 1968 episodes.
there is a scene shortly after the death of doctor lang where jeff clark lets himself into lang's house to retrieve some files about himself(seeing as lang was blackmailing him blah,blah)and encounters barnabas sulking around the place.
so things play out this way.barnabas tries to order jeff out but when he refuses and basically challenges barnabas to fisticuffs b backs down sheepishly.later when jeff vows to return to collinwood to tell vicki of the good news he's discovered b lamely tries to tell him that vicki's a "clever girl" who needs more than a pretty face to satisfy her albatrossian virtuousness.jeff,well on to barnabas' thinly veiled game,in so many words tells b that he and vicki are in love and to "leave us alone!".finally all b can muster up is a garboesque "get out!".from start to end barnabas comes across as ineffectual and rather fey.
and all of this milquetoastiness from a guy who a scant six months earlier was threatening to put burke devlin six feet under for vicki's fine affections.i cannot believe he allows this whippersnapper to order him around in this way!
also i believe this is the first of the great 'jeff mauls vicki' episodes.when he returns to collinwood he spins vicki(who really looks quite lovely in a full-skirted,poppy red dress quite different from her usual number)in the air and then does a real job totally destroying her neat hairdo in a face-grabbing "i love you" moment.