At the hospital, Quentin is getting ready to go home after his miraculous cure. Cyrus tells him, I can no longer find anything wrong. You’re in perfect physical condition, he tells Quentin. (And legions of Quentin fans everywhere would agree!) And mentally? Quentin asks. You’re as well balanced as anyone I know, answers Cyrus (LOL!).
Quentin wonders what caused his attack in the first place. Cyrus is sure it was something supernatural, even though they've just buried Dameon Edwards. Cyrus answers, I’m sure it was a living person using black magic and witchcraft. Totally oblivious of the effect he’s having on Quentin, in his quiet, clinical, lecturer’s voice he details various methods that can be used. There are any number of weapons used to practice black magic, he says: A crude doll figure representing the likeness of the victims is probably the most common. Pins can be stuck into the doll, and the victim will feel intense pain. I saw a man die that way once, in Africa, he tells Quentin. He’s just getting into potions, curses and spell-casting when Quentin stops him. You’ve guessed that the attack wasn’t caused by a supernatural being but by a real person, Quentin says. A real person using supernatural methods, Cyrus agrees. Of course Cyrus has no idea who Quentin’s ill-wisher might be. Could it be someone close to me, someone at Collinwood, perhaps? Quentin wonders. It could be anyone, Cyrus replies, then tells Quentin he’s free to go home and get some rest.
Barnabas almost literally bumps into Maggie, who is about to tell him about last night when Quentin phones to say he's coming home. Most respectfully he asks, May I keep you company while you wait for Quentin? She agrees, and they pass to the drawing room. Desire and guilt (and perhaps relief) flicker over his face as he turns away from her to close the drawing room doors. Meanwhile, Hoffman listens from the servants' door and is pleased at how well the plan is going. All this time the front doors are wide open.
Barnabas and Maggie are getting along just fine. Maggie confides that she thinks Quentin really, really loved Angelique. She was very beautiful. And so are you--if I may say so, Barnabas answers, unable to keep the desire out of his voice. Maggie innocently thanks him and adds, If everyone had been as kind to me when I first arrived here as you have been tonight, I don’t think I would have left. Just then the foyer clock chimes 4:30 and Quentin arrives. [The front doors are closed.] Maggie runs to his arms. Barnabas takes himself off, with the sight of Maggie and Quentin’s embrace to keep his undead heart warm.
Maggie barely gives Quentin time to take a breath when she demands that he fire Hoffman. I’m sure she has some explanation for coming into the master bedroom, Quentin says. There’s something frightening about that woman, Maggie insists. I’m sure Hoffman has been trying to get me out of the house from the moment I arrived. I don’t understand what all the fuss is about, and Hoffman has been such a fixture for so many years. And talk of the devil, Hoffman walks in on them, saying, I heard my name mentioned. Maggie sticks to her guns at first and reiterates her charge to Hoffman’s face. We haven’t gotten on ideally, Hoffman admits to Quentin. I feel that Mrs. Collins would like me to leave. Maggie suddenly panics and backs down, saying, The only thing I truly resent about Hoffman is her stubborn loyalty to someone who is dead! Her shock at her own words seems to unnerve her. (She has gotten braver but not brave enough--not yet.) Quentin employs his usual method of conflict resolution: He tells them both to forget the incident, go to sleep and make a fresh start in the morning. After he and Maggie go upstairs, we see Hoffman reach for the phone again despite the time.
Upstairs Maggie tells Quentin, Something about Hoffman frightens me, but I don’t know what. Are you frightened of me? Quentin asks. Maggie hugs him as she tells him, I feel safe as long as you’re here. Why don’t we get ready for bed, Quentin suggests. Sadly, this DOESN’T mean they start ripping each other’s clothes off --it’s 1970, remember. Quentin loosens his tie while standing at the foot of the bed, with Maggie’s suitcase on a bench. Absently he looks into the suitcase and sees a little clay doll and one of his own handkerchiefs. Cyrus’s calm, lecturing voice echoes in his mind: There are any number of weapons used to practice black magic: A crude doll figure representing the likeness of the victims is probably the most common. Pins can be stuck into the doll and the victim will feel intense pain. I once saw a man die that way. He glances over at the blissfully unaware Maggie, who with her back to him has started to take off her blouse (we get a quick glimpse of bare shoulder, which seems funny after all the leg those miniskirts show), and then Cyrus’s words echo in his mind again: I saw a man die that way.......
