Ah!  Thank you so much, mscbryk.  I apologize for making you explain. 

The Fest mailings have gone out.  Watch your mailboxes. 

What episode did this line come from?

Robservations 9/4/02 - #630/631 - Barnabas & Vicki Try to Reason With Nick

The link takes you to summary of ep #630.  The quote isn't there, but Robin provides a description of the scene. 

Bernie,

Hope you're enjoying your special day!

I'd like to chime in on the original intent of this thread, but first comment on the "Hanscomb the Butler" myth (as it would most likely seem to be).

It was never established that there really was a butler named Hanscomb, and in fact it's unlikely there was not. When Victoria discovered an old payroll ledger in the East Wing with the name "B. Hanscomb" entered into it, she took it to Elizabeth's lawyer, Richard Garner, to see if perhaps "B. Hanscomb" was the same Betty Hanscomb who appeared in Sam's portrait. Richard told her that the Collins family once had a butler named Hanscomb, but after Vicki left Richard quickly placed a call to Elizabeth to warn her that Vicki had been snooping around, but not to worry because "He took care of it."

Now, if there was really a butler named Hanscomb then Richard simply told Vicki the truth and took care of nothing. Therefore he must have made up the story as a cover.

What if "he took care of it" meant that he didn't tell her the whole truth about the Hanscomb/Collins connection?  I don't think it necessarily means that what he did tell her wasn't the truth.

Elizabeth, thus tipped off, warned Roger to back up her story if Vicki mentioned Betty Hanscomb. Roger did not remember there ever being a butler named Hanscomb, nor did Sam Evans.

But to be fair, Roger didn't remember Betty either.  And at the time Sam said that he didn't know a butler named Hansomb, he also admitted that he never mingled with the "natives"-- the ancestors who settled in the area 200 years before-- and so he knows little about what went on at Collinwood.

There's also a scene in which Liz tells Roger about the butler named Hanscomb who had a daughter/niece named Betty.  Why would she bother to tell him that much and then refuse to say why she wants to mislead Vicki about her resemblance to Betty?  If the part about the butler was a lie, why not tell Roger nothing from the start?

The following appeared while I was typing:  (Love the new feature that alerts you to a new post.  You click preview and the new message shows up below.)

But if there was really a butler named Hanscomb, what exactly did he "take care of" if he told her the truth? Regardless of whether or not he had other information he witheld, he would have given Vicki a new lead, and therefore not in a position to tell Elizabeth he had "taken care of it." The only possible conclusion is that there was no butler named Hanscomb, and B. Hanscomb in the payroll ledger was in fact Betty Hanscomb, being paid by the Collins family for something we don't know about and never will.

It's a fascinating possibility, but I don't think it's the only one.  We know that Liz got rid of all the servants 18 years before.  And the other Garner brother passed on, so to whom would Vicki go for answers?  I think withholding information from Vicki was sufficient because he knew that what he had offered was a dead end.  And since the Collins family members were his clients, he probably couldn't have told her more even if he'd wanted to.

All further speculation is just that - speculation. However, it seems pretty obvious the story about there being a butler named Hanscomb was a fabrication.

I'm still not convinced that it was. 

I've looked all over the darkshadowsfestival website in vain for pansyfaye's e-mail address to ask her about this, but can't find her e-mail address there ... If her email address is available publicly, could someone kindly direct me to it?

How odd that it's not there anymore.  I wonder if she even realizes it.  Anyway, you can address it to pansyfaye via the festival domain (darkshadowsfestival.com).

Just now, I clicked on date registerd...but...it doesn't seem to be accurate.

For instance, MB & Midnite I don't believe were on there; the average seemed to be March-May '02...many people were registered prior to this.

Click it twice.  That will bring the newest account to the top, currently Igor's.

Any glitches?

Well, it looks accurate through October 2003, but I'm guessing that inaccuracies in the ordering prior to that are probably due more to our own setup rather than Simple Machines (SMF).

Your welcome MB (Patti's going to hide very well now... )

Beware of admins carrying wooden spoons.