Kudos to all involved in this wonderfully written (by Violet Welles), beautifully acted episode. Quentin is about to learn what is possibly the most painful lesson of his life.
Jenny is wearing a pale pink satin dress, her hair smoothly piled atop her head. Quentin (whose collar is fastened in this reshoot of the teaser) and Magda can only stare at her. Jenny calls the medallion evil and throws it to the floor. We were desperate, Quentin pleads. We didn’t know what to do, Magda adds. You got to save her, Jenny! Jenny picks up the (invisible, bundled-up) baby; cradling the child close, she walks around the room singing All the Pretty Little Horses. With what emotions we can only imagine, Quentin watches his only glimpse of the family life he might have enjoyed but so carelessly threw away. Jenny tells the baby, When you wake, you will be well, healthy and well--and you will stay well, I will see to it. Quentin steps closer to thank her, but she already has a faraway look. Quentin adds softly, I’m sorry for the way things were between us. If I could do it all again, it would be different. No, Jenny answers somberly, not different for me--but different for her. Settling Lenore back in her cradle, she adds, There’s one way to prove your love, one way to keep her safe. Tell me what it is! Quentin begs her. But Jenny is already starting to fade away as she answers, I have so little time. Tell me! Quentin repeats. She will be safer than I was, Jenny says, safer than my dead son was. There is a way. Look into your heart and you will know, she tells him and disappears from view. Look into my heart, Quentin repeats as he and Magda check the baby, who is now sleeping peacefully. I know what Jenny wants me to do! Quentin says confidently.
Welcome comic relief as Trask visits Edward in the Tower Room. Still thinking he's the perfect "gentleman's gentleman," Edward boasts (modestly) about his excellent work for the late earl of Hampshire. Trask tries to get Edward to sign a paper saying that he (Trask) is Jamison's legal guardian. He takes the paper and starts to read it before Trask can stop him. You don’t have to read it, Trask says hastily. I must, Edward answers, and it's good that I am, because it contains a serious error. It says you are to be my son’s legal guardian, but that’s impossible. I have no son. This paper will help fight our mutual enemies, Trask insists. We’ll have to find another way of fighting them, sir, Edward answers mildly as he hands back the document. Yes, Trask answers heavily, I’m afraid we will. Not to worry, sir, Edward says cheerfully as he straightens his coat. Often the earl would get confused, but I’d set him straight, just as I did you--but of course I never told anyone. Trask is irritated at having been beaten, but Edward merely beams at him.
Magda and Quentin return to Collinwood. Quentin tells Trask that he wants the nursery opened, so that Lenore can live at Collinwood. Trask makes the usual objections--affronting Magda with sneers at Quentin's "gypsy offspring"--and insists that he's the Master of Collinwood. Quentin reminds him about the terms of Edith's will. That’s true, Trask allows, but your daughter won’t stay. The terms of the will give you a home, but it says nothing about your children. You can’t keep her out! Quentin says angrily. Legally, I am the Master of Collinwood, Trask huffs. Quentin seizes him by the lapels and rages, Well, I don’t care! She’s my daughter and she belongs here! She is a Collins! Magda watches, her lips pressed together in anger. You used the wrong argument to persuade me, Trask tells him haughtily. I have burden enough with the Collinses already here. One more is too many. What is the _right_ number of Collinses for you at Collinwood? Quentin retorts. I’m only trying to help your poor, unfortunate family, Trask says piously. We don’t want your help, Quentin tells him and adds with heavy sarcasm, This “poor, unfortunate” family hasn’t dwindled away yet. There’s still enough of us left to defeat you. Defeat me and you defeat yourself, Trask says. Do you think you can convince me of that? Quentin asks. Do you think I’m so stupid that I don’t know what you’re doing? No, Trask answers, I don’t think you’re stupid, just misguided, wicked, sinful, wild. Thank you, Quentin says sarcastically. I’m going to see Edward, my brother. Cain and Abel were brothers too, Trask says nastily. Quentin retorts, I know Edward and I haven’t acted much like brothers before. But I’ll bet even Cain and Abel would have behaved much better toward each other if they’d had a common enemy to fights. With a laugh, Quentin sprints up the stairs. Trask tells Magda, I saw Judith at the sanitarium. She thinks she’s a child again, but she misses her brothers. Soon she’ll have Edward there to keep her company, he gloats.
Quentin is Edward's next visitor. Quentin is pleased that Trask went away thwarted, but his luck ends there. It’s going to take all our guile and cunning and sanity to defeat Trask, Quentin tells him. Do you realize that? Edward only stares at him in confusion (good bit by Edmonds). No, he answers himself wearily, you don’t realize anything.
Trask returns, and Edward complains that Quentin tormented him--something that "gentlemen" like him often do to servants. (Makes me wonder if Quentin did this before too.) Why am I here? he asks suddenly. How long must I stay? You must stay as long as Quentin says you must, Trask replies heartlessly. And how long will that be? Edward asks. It depends on how well you do your job, Trask replies, adding, I'm going to take a great chance and give you a job to do--I hope you can do it. I always try my best, Edward assures him. I want you to kill Quentin, Trask says point blank. Edward is shocked. You don't realize the gravity of your situation, Trask tells him. Quentin is never going to release you--never! Edward is infuriated.
Coatless and tieless, Quentin is stretched out on the drawing-room sofa with his music for company. A drink and a nearly empty bottle are within reach, and an ashtray is piled high (even though Quentin never smokes on screen!). Eventually he falls asleep, and in a dream he hears Jenny’s voice, then sees her rocking Lenore’s cradle and singing All the Pretty Little Horses one last time. Quentin gets up and goes to her. Jenny finishes the song, then tells Quentin, She’s sleeping peacefully now. She’s as beautiful as her mother, Quentin says. Yes, she is, Jenny agrees with a smile. As Quentin moves beside her, she tells him, I’m sorry for you, Quentin. It won’t be easy for you to give her up. I’m taking her back to Collinwood, Quentin protests. After she was born, Jenny says, _he_ [i.e., Edward] took her away. I was mad, but I knew he took her away. I was mad, but I knew she must not stay at Collinwood. She belongs here, Quentin insists. No, Jenny replies, there’s no happiness for anyone at Collinwood. There never has been. There can be none for her. Nothing will happen to her, Quentin promises. Jenny pleads, Don’t imprison a gypsy child behind such high walls. She’s my daughter, Quentin protests, I love her. Jenny tells him sternly, Prove your love--give her up. I can’t, Quentin pleads. You lied to me so many times, Jenny says reproachfully. Now you’re lying to me again. I never lied to you, Quentin insists. You said you would do anything to keep her safe, Jenny reminds him. And I will, he vows. There’s only way one way to keep her safe, Jenny says as she walks away from him into the shadows. Give her up. Let her go. Do not lock her behind prison walls. Gypsies die in prison--let her go! Quentin begs Jenny, Don't leave her alone. Jenny’s last words to him are, Leave her alone! Give her up! Prove your love and give her up! She fades from Quentin’s view forever.
I don’t know what to do! Quentin calls out to her. Suddenly Edward is there in his dream. One must always do the right thing, Edward says primly. It takes the right person to do the right things. When the wrong person does the right thing, it's wrong. Do you follow me? he asks as he helps Quentin into his jacket. Something is the matter, Edward continues when Quentin doesn’t reply. It’s almost dinnertime, and you aren’t dressed. I only care about my daughter, Quentin says (getting there!). She isn’t the right kind of daughter, Edward says, his mouth turning down with distaste. Don’t waste time thinking about her, not when it’s so late. It’s almost dinnertime. Very handsome, he says appraisingly as he puts the finishing touches on Quentin’s jacket (although properly Quentin should be wearing a tuxedo). I’ve taken the liberty of choosing your tie, Edward adds, showing it to Quentin. I thought a long time about it--I wanted you to look just right. He puts it around Quentin’s neck, then ties it. It’s too tight, Quentin protests. No--I’m doing the job just right, Edward insists as he pulls it tighter.
Gasping for breath, Quentin wakes up to find that he really is gasping for breath because his brother is leaning over the sofa, hands really wrapped around his throat....
