A truly heartbreaking finale to the week....

Quentin taunts Charity (on the strange, three-part settee thing) by pretending to be on the point of seducing her and then producing Dear Old Dad's signed murder confession. Quentin is interested to learn that Gregory and Evan set up Tim Shaw to do the actual murder. ou must give me that, Charity says, reaching for the confession. No, no, not a chance, Quentin says,holding it out of her reach. If you don’t, you’ll be doing the devil’s work, Charity insists. Then it’s the devil’s work I’ll do, Quentin answers grimly, if it means keeping you quiet. Charity starts, If I tell Father about you-- Then I’ll tell the police about Father, Quentin finishes with a grin. It’s sweet and simple. I may hang for murder, but your father will be dancing at the end of a rope too. He’s innocent! Charity insists. Tim Shaw murdered my mother! I know it! Try telling the police that when they have this confession in their hands, Quentin suggests, waving it around once more. Now, Charity, what are we going to do? Shall we both keep quiet? Or both tell our stories? he asks. If I keep quiet, I’ll be guilty of murder too, Charity says miserably. When the next full moon rises and you become what you are, you’ll kill again, won’t you? I don’t know that I will, he answers soberly. But you don’t know that you won’t, Charity points out, and if there’s a poor girls in the woods, or another Dorcas Trilling, I will have helped you murder by keeping quiet. Quentin answers, If you talk, then Evan Hanley and your father and I myself will die. If you keep quiet, there’s a small chance of a cure by the next full moon, and this nightmare will be over. I don’t know what to do, Charity sighs. There will be no more victims, Quentin says. I want to go and pray for guidance, Charity decides. Go pray, Quentin says, unlocking the doors, but if you feel “guided” to go to your father, remember this paper. Charity leaves.

At the Old Mill, Aristede is admiring his reflection when Magda arrives, apparently in answer to his summons. Did you send for me so there would be two of us to admire you? she asks in the genuine Magda manner. He tells her that when Barnabas awakes for the night, she should do nothing out of the ordinary--except use her gypsy cunning to lull him into a false sense of security. What do you have to protect yourself? she asks. He shows her the medallion around his neck. This protected me once before against “Mister” Barnabas (but actually it didn’t). She's about to leave when he asks her where the hand is. Tim Shaw has it, she reminds him. Find Tim Shaw, Aristede orders her. He hasn’t just vanished from the earth. Maybe he’s got a different face now, Magda suggests sarcastically, stepping within spitting distance of Aristede’s face. Maybe something worse has happened to him. Maybe the hand has done more evil by now. If you think you know anything about the hand, you flatter yourself, Aristede says. If _you_ understand it so well, you should go find it, she retorts. He snaps angrily, Right now, WE-- I cannot. That’s why I have to rely on _people_ like you! Why? Magda asks. That’s none of your business, Aristede answers. You’d better find the hand before time runs out-- He realizes his mistake just after the words have left his mouth. Magda pounces: Before time runs out for who? For me? For Quentin? Then she gasps as the light dawns. You mean when Petofi comes back! she says triumphantly. When will that be? Don’t ask me questions, Aristede warns her. Ask someone who can help you find Tim Shaw! She leaves.

Someone knocks frantically at the front doors of Collinwood. Quentin opens them to admit Mrs. Fillmore (Mary Farrell), a middle-aged, somberly dressed woman. What are you doing here? he asks. You must come! Mrs. Fillmore tells him. It’s Lenore! This morning she was fine, but she developed a high fever, similar to when your little boy fell sick. [Poor babies! We never do learn the little boy’s name.] What did the doctor say? Quentin asks. He’s with her now. Quentin is upset but tells Mrs. Fillmore, Go back--I’m going to try and find someone who can help. Hurry! She leaves quickly.

Charity knocks back a whole snifter of brandy and pours out more just before Magda arrives. Charity admits that once she wanted to get married and live in a big house like Collinwood, but not any more. Some changes are very strange, Magda comments gently. You wanted to be in a big house and now you don't. You wanted a man, and now he's far away. What man? Charity asks in surprise. Tim Shaw, Magda replies--you were supposed to marry him. Interested (though not romantically), Charity asks, Could you bring Tim Shaw back here, if I wanted him? Could you find out from the cards? I can try, Magda replies, but you must answer some questions. Does he have a family? No, he was an orphan, Charity says. My parents are the only family he ever had (agh!). Was there a place he mentioned wanting to visit? Asks Magda. Yes, Charity says, San Francisco. He and Steve Simmons discussed going there. Steve was Tim's best friend. Now he's working in a bank in Worcester. I received a Christmas card from him--I'll go get it. She starts to leave, then stops to ask Magda, Why do you need the address to read the cards? Magda replies, If you want him back, go get the address, and leave the gypsy magic to me. Charity observes, If Tim does come back, he'll have to tell the truth, won't he? Magda nods.

Charity goes to get Steve's address, and Quentin hurries downstairs. How did you hear? he asks Magda as he hurries into the drawing room. Hear what? Magda asks back. The news about my daughter, Quentin replies. Horrified, Magda gasps, She's dead? She's dying, Quentin says grimly--of the same thing as my boy. It's because she's got gypsy blood, Magda says mournfully, because Magda Rakosi loves her. Another realization hits her, and she tells Quentin, She cannot die, because if she does, Barnabas says the future is dead, too. I don't care about the future, Quentin says, just my daughter. The doctor is with her now. The doctor can't do anything, Magda says, but maybe there is something. She tells Quentin about Aristede's medallion. It protects him from Barnabas and Angelique, she tells Quentin--perhaps it could protect the baby from Julianka! I don't know where Aristede is, Quentin points out. I do, Magda says instantly--the old abandoned building at the end of North Road. The pendant may work--it must! Quentin exclaims. Be careful with Aristede, Magda warns, he's very dangerous. Heedless of nothing but his daughter’s life, Quentin vows to get the medallion and hurries out. Magda picks up Charity's glass of brandy and drinks it off.
 
We get a closeup of a beautiful detail of musical instruments ornamenting a music stand in Petofi’s lair. [This is our very first hint of Petofi’s special interest in music.] Aristede is napping on the sofa when Quentin arrives, but he wakes up instantly. No, Mr. Collins, you can’t surprise me, even when I’m sleeping, he boasts. Give me the pendant, Quentin orders him. No, Aristede says promptly. It protects me from witches, warlocks and unnatural spirits. How does it do against flesh and blood? Quentin wonders. For that, I have the Dancing Lady, Aristede reminds him, whipping out the knife. Then let her dance, Quentin says, let her dance! They close for the struggle, knocking over various objects around the room as they fight. Quentin very easily knocks Aristede out by pushing him against a chair. Quentin’s collar has come undone in the fight but otherwise he is unharmed. Tearing the medallion off Aristede’s neck, he whispers, Pray God there’s still time.

Magda is at Mrs. Fillmore’s house. She and Mrs. Fillmore are sitting beside the cradle, which rests on a kind of platform covered by the migrating multicolor granny-square afghan. A three-branched candelabrum stands on a table nearby, its candles lit. Quentin bursts in, frantic to see his daughter. How is she? he asks. The doctor has come and gone, Mrs. Fillmore tells him gently. He says there is nothing more he or anyone can do. Mrs. Fillmore can see that Quentin has been in a struggle of some kind. Are you all right? I am, he says--please go. She leaves him and Magda alone with the baby.

Quentin is about to put the medallion on the baby, but Magda stops him, suddenly wondering, What if it harms her? Perhaps it will hurt her--maybe it’s evil. We have no choice, Quentin replies. We must do it, no matter what happens. _Do_ it, Magda urges him, go on! He places the medallion on the (invisible) baby’s chest. They wait tensely, but nothing changes. No change in color or breathing, Quentin notes wearily. She will die because of Julianka's curse, Magda laments, and there's no way of stopping it! If only-- Wait, Quentin says, I have an idea. If Julianka put on the curse, she might be able to take it off. Do you want me to summon her again? Magda asks. Do you think you can? he asks, hardly daring to hope. I don't know, she admits. Try, Quentin pleads. But if she does come, Magda points out, how do we know Julianka won't make the curse even worse? Quentin reminds her, Magda, you have nothing to lose--except your life. I would gladly give up my life for this child, if it would do any good, Magda says passionately, but Julianka is so angry because she died before her time. Call her, Quentin practically orders her--we have very little time. All right, Magda says. I will pray nothing gets worse. Magda takes the three-candle candelabra and intones, I call upon Julianka of the Romano tribe. I beseech her to come. I implore her to hear me. I know I’m guilty, she pleads, and I know I deserve punishment. I ask not for myself, but for the baby, Lenore. Magda’s voice is filled with heartbreak as she continues, She is too young, too tender to walk down the path of death alone. Let her live, Julianka! Magda pleads. Let her know life! Outside, thunder rumbles and lightning flashes. Suddenly they notice that the cradle is rocking, as if moved by an invisible hand. Julianka has come, Quentin says with relief. Let us hope she has come with pity for the child, Magda says. No, not with pity, Magda, a voice answers--but the voice is gentle. A shadowy figure appears before them. As the figure materializes, they can see that it’s Jenny, healed of her madness forever and radiantly beautiful, as she must have been in the first, happy days of her marriage. Her sister and her husband regard her with wonder....

Poor Magda is forced to take the two villains to Barn's coffin. She turns to leave, but Aristede insists she has to stay and watch. You haven’t been dismissed, Aristede says sharply. Are you going to make me wait around to see what’s going to happen? Magda asks indignantly. A sensitive gypsy? Aristede sneers. A gypsy with a heart? Barnabas is my friend, Magda says. As well as your enemy, Aristede points out. Yes, but he don’t deserve to die this way, Magda argues. Aristede finds a stake, perfectly shaped and pointy, just lying on the floor. We will need some protection, he tells J/P. [LOL!] It’s day now, J/P points out. Barnabas can’t hurt you. Aristede reminds him, The vampire disappeared while I was looking at him. All I could hear was the sound of a bat flying around. That was in the nighttime, J/P reminds him. He is powerless in the day. How can we be sure? Aristede frets. Keep your stake if you’re so afraid, but open the coffin, J/P orders him. Again Magda turns to leave. J/P puts his hand on her arm to stop her. We aren’t done with you yet, he says sharply, and we haven’t seen what we came to see as of yet. Aristede opens the coffin--which turns out to be empty.

Aristede is furious and ready to beat Barnabas's whereabouts out of Magda with the mallet, but J/P intervenes. He's sure Barn will tell Magda where his new hiding place is, and she can take them there tomorrow. Meanwhile, they ransack the Old House. Aristede is annoyed about having to work until J/P reminds him about the deadline and about what might happen to an unemployed Aristede. They find the very same Collins Family History that traveled back to 1795 with Vicki. J/P is quite taken with the possibility of time travel.

I guess Charity is wearing a yellow robe when she has her nightmare about Quentin and Tessie. Furious with jealousy, she decides to consult Magda about it.

Meanwhile, J/P and Aristede are also consulting Magda, and not very nicely, about the Collins Family History. She insists, I never saw that book before. I don’t know nothing about it. Aristede warns her, When you lie to him, you lie to Count Petofi. You’ve heard of his powers. Didn’t anyone tell you about the shadow Count Petofi can cast, a shadow that isn’t your own, but follows you? [spoiler][A long time from now, Angelique will use such a shadow to follow Jeb Hawkes.][/spoiler]

Charity finds Quentin lying in the woods, just regaining consciousness, with torn and bloody clothes (yes, chest hair!) but physically unharmed. Quentin! she cries. She kneels beside him and asks, What happened? I must get help, she decides, getting to her feet.  But she is horrified to discover, just a few steps away, the girl from her dream, whose clothes are also torn and bloody. But she is in much worse shape and can say only a single word, the same word that Charity just said: Quentin....

Thanks, Admin. I certainly had no intention of not being fair to the site owner. 

Pansity! Petofison! 

Barnabas has another cell in the Old House where he puts J/P. Magda is supposed to look after him.

Meanwhile, C/P is swanning around the foyer at Collinwood when her father returns. e is shocked, so shocked that the film loses color for a moment. What’s going on? he asks. Charity/Pansy admires herself in the mirror. Trask grabs her arm and asks, What is the meaning of this? What’s it look like, luv? Charity/Pansy replies. I’m a girl trying to get along in the world. She resumes singing. Trask thunders, I forbid you to sing that song--or to continue playing this sinful game. What game is that? she asks. Look at your [piled-up] hair! he exclaims, appalled. The shocking [very made-up] condition of your face! Oh, I think I look pretty good, she replies, preening in front of the mirror. I was thinking of going on stage, she muses. I might change my name--to Pansy Faye. Pretty, ain’t it? Trask asks, Do you know who you are? I know, she sneers. I'm Charity Trask--but that doesn't mean I have to like it, not with an old crow like you for a dad. Furious, Trask slaps her across the face and orders her, Honor your father and mother   ! She cradles her stinging cheek and says, Mama is dead--I was just going out to her grave. Like this? her father asks. Color returns to the videotape as Charity comes back to herself. She gazes down at herself, horrified. She tells her father, A madness seems to be running through this family. While you were away, Quentin and I had to lock Edward in the Tower Room--he's lost his reason, and so has Jamison. Trask is amazed and interested in this news. Go get the boy, he orders, and despite the evidence of his own eyes, he tells Charity, Whatever this madness, it hasn't touched you, and will not. You aren't a Collins, and this madness obviously lies in them--first my poor Judith, then Edward, now Jamison. Soon there won't be any Collinses left, he says hopefully. Except for Quentin, Charity reminds him. Of course, except Quentin, Trask acknowledges with a smile. I want to see how Jamison is. I’ll go get him, she says, but hesitates. There's something about the boy now that frightens me, she confesses. Nothing about him frightens me, Trask declares. I am ready for the task ahead, ready to care for this poor, afflicted family.

Evan Hanley is playing a kind of boardless Scrabble, the letters on the table in front of him, when the lights dim and a cold wind blows the windows open. Demon, or spirit, he calls out, leave me in peace! I’ve had enough of it all. A moment later, he sees that his visitor is Barnabas, come in full state. No demon or spirit, Barnabas assures him. What’s the matter? You seem disenchanted with your former delights. Evan replies grimly, When a man has been under the evil hand of Aujedon, he’d be a fool to be fascinated with the black arts. I’m glad to hear you have renounced them, Barnabas comments. Barnabas explains that he knows that Tim has the hand and wants to know where he is. Evan insists that he knows nothing about Tim's plans and wants nothing more to do with any of it. You are not going to lie to me, Barnabas warns. It would be very hard for you if you don't tell me the truth.

Charity returns to tell her father that Jamison has run away. She wants to organize a search party, but her father barks that he alone is the Master of Collinwood.

Evan tells Barnabas, Believe me, I know nothing. I wouldn’t lie. I have found nothing in my books to protect me from your gaze. I hate these books and all that’s in them! I _hate_ them! he bursts out. The next moment they hear a knock at the door. Who is that? Barnabas asks. I’m expecting no one, Evan tells him. Trask calls out. Wait a minute, Evan calls to him. Barnabas Dematerializes as Trask shouts through the door, My business is urgent! Evan opens the door and finds Trask smiling broadly.

I want you to draw up the necessary papers that will declare father and son mentally incompetent. I can do it, I suppose, but I’m not sure I want to, Evan answers cautiously. I don’t like what’s happening at Collinwood, and I prefer to have nothing more to do with it. It’s not a matter of preference when it’s a matter of doing the right thing, Trask says piously. Evan bursts into bitter laughter at his hypocrisy. Trask continues, You can’t have a man who has no idea who he is and some boy who thinks he’s a foreign count-- What? Evan exclaims in horror. Some Count Petofi, Trask says carelessly. (He’s never meet Victor.) Then Petofi didn’t go, Evan says half to himself: He’s still here, watching. It’s worse than I thought--now I am convinced! he finishes aloud. To do as I asked? Trask asks hopefully. To have nothing more to do with the whole matter! Evan shouts. Rising to his feet in indignation, Trask huffs, You’re not dealing with some nobody who runs a small school! [I’m sure Trask thought of himself as a lot more than that!] You are dealing with the Master of Collinwood! And you are dealing with Count Petofi, Evan retorts, eyes ablaze with fury. You have no chance against him. Neither do I! Neither does any of us! The difference is, I know it. You don’t. Good night. Trask doesn’t move but says angrily, You are my lawyer--I came to you for advice! Then I’ll give it to you, Evan replies. Do nothing to Edward or Jamison, particularly Jamison, not now. You’re a fool! Trask fumes. Evan steps right up to him and retorts, _You_ are a fool to pit yourself against Petofi! Do you know what evil he carries with him? Do you know what strength he has? I have strength and powers, too! Trask shouts back, adding piously, I have the higher forces of heaven on my side. I didn’t think the higher forces of heaven sided with the cruel and the greedy, Evan answers [sic him!]. As he turns away, Trask snarls, Taking over that house was the kindest thing I could have done, Trask answers. Can you let the lunatics run the asylum? Can you let the animals run the zoo? I expect you to bring those papers! He storms out.

Standing in his cell, J/P consults his little black notebook again and runs over the names on his “to do” list: Gregory Trask, Magda Rakosi, Evan Hanley. He wavers between Trask and Evan, then settles on Evan. Evan Hanley! he says over and over. Who is calling me? Evan asks, apparently lost in a dream. Who are you? Why can't I see you? The next moment, J/P appears before him. Evan asks, what are you doing here this time of night? I’ve run away, J/P sobs, I’ve run away! I'm afraid to go home. What are you afraid of? Evan asks, and Jamison uses the (possibly anachronistic?) Scrabble letters to spell out T-R-A-S-K. He won't hurt you, Evan assures him. But he's been telling so many lies about me, J/P sobs, still in his Jamison persona. Are they lies? Evan asks. Yes, you know me, J/P replies. I'm Jamison Collins, and now it's dark and I'm afraid to go home. Will you take me home? he asks plaintively. With real concern, Evan agrees. Jamison thanks him profusely, then kisses him. Evan looks up to find that Jamison has vanished. He hears J/P’s voice telling him, You will know what to do, what to do, what to do....

In his cell, J/P repeats those same words as Evan wakes up with a start. He sits at his desk and starts writing at J/P’s dictation: To Whom It May Concern....

The next morning, Trask gazes out the drawing-room windows as he gloats to Charity about how Edward nattered on about serving the earl of Hampshire and how he now wants nothing more than to serve the Collinses. That’s what he said when you locked him in there, isn’t it? he asks Charity. Who? she asks. She is examining a recorder and not paying much attention. Edward! Trask replies with a grin. I wish I could give him what he wants, Trask muses, a place as a domestic servant at Collinwood. I could do it and still be Master of Collinwood--it would serve him right. Charity shows her father the recorder. I found a recorder in the study--I want to learn to play it, she tells him with a smile. (She’s wearing a much nicer dress now, pale yellow with same-color lace trim and a small bustle.) I disapprove of frivolous music, Trask says sternly. I love love music and singing, Charity says, it sounds so cheerful. In a moment she once again morphs into Pansy Faye and starts humming Pansy’s theme. Stop singing at once! her father shouts, but it’s no use. Don’t you like music? she asks as she wiggles suggestively. Carl did, she recalls. All the way back to Atlantic City, I sang and told him stories, even bawdy ones, but he laughed anyway, particularly after we drank some brandy. She giggles at the memory. Do you know the story about the vicar's daughter named Alice? she asks, bursting into laughter. This is too much for Trask, who thunders, Down on your knees, where you belong, so you can pray! He pushes her down. I don’t remember ’ow, Pansy laughs as she taps him playfully with the recorder. He grabs her arm again and shouts, You are going to pray! It is part of you, part of your life, like the blood in your veins! When she continues to laugh, he shouts, It’s your lifeblood! Now pray, Charity! Pray! As Charity comes back to herself, she says obediently, Yes, Father. She kneels and puts her hands together to pray. Keep praying! he exhorts her. This madness must not touch you again. Kneeling beside her, he folds his own hands together and says intently, My plans are too close to completion. As Charity folds her hands, Evan walks in. Am I interrupting something? he asks dryly. Morning devotions, Trask replies. We are almost finished. Good, Evan says, adding, I apologize for the intrusion, but I have _business_ to discuss. Trask agrees and tells his daughter, Go to your room, Charity, and read a chapter or two. Of course, Charity obeys instantly.

The moment she’s gone, Trask tells Evan, I’m glad to see you are carrying the papers. I assume your reservations have been removed and you found yourself able to do what must be done. Yes, Evan agrees, it’s the only thing to do. And Edward will be declared insane, Trask gloats. Evan takes out a legal-looking document, all drawn up and ready with a red seal on a ribbon. Placing it on the little writing desk, he says, Sign it--let’s get it over with. Trask signs, commenting, I saw Edward again, and if ever a man cries out to be committed, it’s he--he’s completely insane. Suddenly Trask takes a good look at the paper. This is insane! he shouts. Why? Evan asks. Why? Trask exclaims. No sane man would put on paper what you put on this! It’s the truth, isn’t it? Evan asks. And I signed it! Trask shouts. I signed it too, Evan replies mildly. After all, we both murdered Minerva. Be quiet, Trask fumes. It would do no good to be quiet, Evan says calmly. They’ll find us. Tim Shaw murdered Minerva! Trask protests. No, we did, Evan insists. You know that. No one else knows it, Trask says, and no one else will, because I’m going to destroy the paper, right now! He throws the paper into the fire. You can’t burn murder, Evan comments. You can’t destroy it or drown it or even poison it. You can’t kill murder. Get out--and stay out! Trask shouts. And don’t tell anyone about this paper I burned, because if you do, I swear you’ll hang for worse than murder! He shoves Evan toward the door as the paper burns merrily away. Evan leaves, and so does Trask. But a moment after he’s gone, the paper, not even scorched, reappears on the writing desk.…

I think possession means different things in the DS universe, depending on who's doing it and what powers they have.

I've also been waiting for the same talk, MT. Maybe we're supposed to give it to ourselves.

Whether or not TD was unavailable, I think it's hilarious that Tim Shaw has become a sort of wild card in the story line. It makes a nice change from the same old characters doing the same old things. He's gone from the pedantic and predictable to the ruthless and unpredictable. Go, Tim!

My notes say that when Petofi is searching the Old House, he's moving things around with only his real hand, not the fake one. But it's been a long time since I've actually seen the episode. I think that TD is a southpaw anyway, right?

Turns out the count was the last person to own a unicorn--but he killed it in his werewolf state. This was about the time that Peter S. Beagle's book The Last Unicorn came out and I guess DC wanted to add a reference in the usual everything-including-the-kitchen-sink manner.

Magda defies Petofi at first, then warns Quentin not to anger him. Quentin tries to stab Petofi with a letter opener, but the count has enough power to render Q. motionless. Then he slams his (remaining) hand down on Quentin's, releasing him. Nursing his injured wrist, Quentin asks in a heartbreaking voice, Why won't you help me? If you know what it's like, why won't you? To get something, you must pay the price, Petofi replies. We can do a little bargaining, perhaps. I'm willing to bargain, Quentin says instantly. You're only willing to cringe, Petofi scoffs, to make inept excuses. You must learn. I paid my price [he holds up the fake hand]--you must pay yours! Then he leaves. Quentin, Quentin! Magda laments. You stole the hand, Quentin reminds her bitterly, and you brought him here. I should kill you for that. Don't talk such foolishness, Magda replies We must get that hand! He won't leave us alone if we don't. Unless we can fight him, Quentin muses. Magda gets an idea: Evan has books that tell about Petofi! He even knows about the hand! Evan and I aren’t the best of friends anymore, Quentin reminds her--but maybe it’s time to rekindle our acquaintance. Be careful, Magda warns him. Don't do anything foolish--promise me! He leaves, but Magda knows his volatility is bound to get the better of him.

Evan is in a pitiable state, imagining that the hand is coming to get him. Quentin arrives, and Evan tells him he wants nothing more to do with the hand and that Tim Shaw has it now.

At the Old House, Magda gazes into her crystal ball and intones, I call up the god of the gates to the future. I ask to see! Give me power to look at the road ahead. I have no right to know, after all I did, but show me in the crystal ball, she says, dissolving into pleading. What will happen? I got to see, please! Quentin enters and announces, Our dear ex-schoolteacher, Timothy Shaw, has the hand. We got to go to him right away, Magda exclaims. That's impossible, Quentin says grimly. We underestimated dear Mr. Shaw--if we ever thought of him at all. He took his clothes, everything he owns, plus the hand, and left. Petofi and Aristede killed him, Magda guesses. No, Quentin replies, he left alone on the evening train, without leaving a  forwarding address. Where did he go? Magda asks. Where would you go with all that power in your suitcase? Quentin asks. Then we can’t do nothing? Magda asks in disbelief and dismay. Nothing, Quentin replies bitterly--nothing.

Jamison runs into the count just as he's leaving Collinwood. Jamison is disappointed that he won't get to hear more about Kitchener and all his battles and dutifully kisses the count on request--with what results we will know soon. Magda arrives with Quentin, and the count knows that they've come to ask for his help. The hand ain't in Collinsport, Magda admits. That is your fault, Petofi tells her. You are a very careless custodian. You know where it is, don't you? Magda asks. You’re going to get it now! No, the count answers, I am going to wait for you to find it for me. You played some rather dangerous tricks with my hand, but I should have expected that. He continues with impatient condescension, All of you are children in this house. Never have I seen a group of people so willing to believe lies. I refuse to listen to any more of this! Quentin fumes. Unperturbed, Petofi continues, It will be fascinating to see which of you will be able to live and face the truth--and which of you will die. Already, one by one, the lies are falling away. You at least--to Quentin--admit what you are, and because of that you are closer to the truth than the others. The count smiles as he continues, I’m leaving you a very surprising and rather interesting present. You won’t like it at first, but you will thank me in time. I want nothing from you, Quentin growls. Of course you don't, Petofi says with an equable chuckle, but you can't prevent me from giving it to you. Perhaps I'll be back in a little while, when I have the hand, and then I will undo the mischief I'll be blamed for. Goodbye--and remember, I'll be watching you, even though you won't see me. He picks up his suitcase with his fake right hand and walks out the door. Don't let him scare you, Quentin advises Magda. He has no powers. If he did, he'd use them. Crossing herself, Magda retorts, He's alive, ain't he? It takes power to live a hundred and fifty years!

Suddenly they notice Jamison on the stairs above them, hands clasped behind his back. I beg your pardon, he starts in a most unchildlike manner. Quentin steps forward. Isn't the child isn't in bed? Jamison continues in the same tone. Don't children go to bed at a decent hour these days? [But this is Collinwood!] Quentin and Magda exchange worried glances. Jamison says, As I once told Lord Kitchener-- Magda suddenly seems to understand and reacts with horror. Come down, Quentin tells Jamison. Mr. Collins, Jamison tells him haughtily, I'm not in the habit of being interrupted. What are you talking about? Quentin asks, incredulous. Don't play jokes. Jamison chides him, Mr. Collins, you’re always being the one that's speaking of jokes. As Jamison is speaking, Quentin puts his hands on his nephew’s shoulders. Jamison holds his arms out to steady himself--and now we can see that he is wearing black leather gloves. Quentin--look! Magda exclaims, and they both stare at Jamison’s gloved hands. Why are you staring at my gloves? Jamison asks with a smile. You know that I always wear gloves. Horrified, Magda gasps, Ohhhh! He's possessed! Quentin is staring at him too, but Jamison only smiles--as enigmatically as ever Count Petofi does.….