525 - Joe struggles with Jeff, yelling his name, demanding to know what's wrong with him. Jeff finally comes to and recognizes him as Joe Haskell, not Nathan Forbes.
Jeff apologizes to Joe, saying that he looks exactly like someone named Nathan Forbes, and that he was having a dream in which he was trying to kill Forbes. Joe asks Jeff, why don't you like me, puzzled--Jeff really doesn't know Joe well enough to like or dislike him. I don't know, claims Jeff. Could it be because I look like this Nathan Forbes? asks Joe. It suddenly hits Jeff-of course, he says, almost to himself-that's it--and that means that I know Nathan Forbes, a man Vicki knew in the past. Joe doesn't understand any of this, but if Jeff is fine, he's going back to bed. After he leaves, Jeff finally admits the truth to himself-I'm Peter Bradford!! He smiles with joy and relief.
Back at Collinwood, Nicholas brings Angelique's portrait into the drawing room and props it up on a chair. He begins to address the portrait, commanding Angelique's spirit to guide him to the tree in the forest where she was tied, so that he can bring her ashes back to life. We hear Angelique screaming in the distance, and Nicholas increases the intensity of his incantation. Just as he's pushing the spell into high gear, the drawing room doors open-it's Vicki!
Nicholas is forced to stop what he was doing. That's my painting, insists Vicki--where did you find it? Taken aback at being caught, flustered, Nicholas tells her that Roger loaned it to him. It's all faded, notes Vicki, but I want it back. Nicholas is reluctant to let the portrait out of his hands--why not let me restore it at my expense, he offers. No, I like it the way it is, Vicki asserts. Nicholas begs to be allowed to keep it, just for tonight--it reminds me of Cassandra, and having it near helps me not worry so much.
Vicki refuses. Outmaneuvered, Nicholas is forced to step aside and let her take the portrait. He smiles his too-polite smile at her until she is gone, but his face in close-up seethes with anger and frustration.
Later, Nicholas is pacing in the drawing room when Roger comes home--still no news of Cassandra, he reports. Even a search of bus terminals, railways and the airport turned up nothing. Nicholas urges Roger to have a drink to relax. As they sip their brandy, Nicholas begins to probe Roger about Vicki. Roger describes Vicki's fantasy that she was transported back to 1795 and persecuted for witchcraft. Nicholas snaps to attention at this bit of news and asks a few more calculated questions.
Roger eventually tells him about how Trask tied Vicki to a tree in an effort to exorcise her. After eliciting all the information he needs, Nicholas urges Roger to go to bed. Nicholas muses that he finally has the key to finding Angelique-- Trask's ghost would take Angelique to the same tree where he took Vicki. Nicholas conjures up a spell on Vicki, commanding her to lead him to the tree. She rises from her bed, clad in a saffron peignoir, and moves dreamily out the door. He follows her through the forest to a tree which has some ropes around it.
Seeing the tree, Vicki grows hysterical in her trance, but Nicholas calms her and orders her to return to Collinwood and remember nothing of this. Left alone next to the tree, Nicholas begins to chant a spell to bring Angelique back to life, calling the Prince of Darkness to beseech her return. The air is filled with thunder-and the sound of a woman's piercing screams!
NOTES: So, will Nicholas' spell to return Cassangelique return? Or will she just return as plain old Angelique? You have to applaud the skillful way Nicholas interrogates Roger, and it's neat, how he uses Vicki to guide him to the tree to which she herself was tied. It's a pretty big assumption on his part that Trask would utilize the same tree (which was destroyed back in 1795, anyway, right?), but it worked for the plotline.
Is Jeff pleased to learn he's Peter Bradford? Wouldn't you be worried if you found out you were a guy from the past who is supposed to be long dead? Weird reaction. Or perhaps Jeff is just relieved to have the mystery of his identity finally solved, even if it is that he's a dead guy somehow brought to life nearly 200 years later.
526 - Lightning flashes, illuminating the landscape. Cassangelique screams. Her body appears tied to the tree where Trask left her. She recognizes Nicholas. I had been calling you, she says, sobbing. Nicholas wants to know how she let this happen.
She confesses that her power wasn't stronger than Trask's. Nicholas blames it on her letting her love for Barnabas get in the way. Angelique claims she hates him, but he doesn't buy it; she assures him she will think of nothing but vengeance toward Barnabas. How did you find me? Cassangelique asks. Nicholas explains how he had Vicki lead him to the same tree to which she had been tied by Trask for exorcism in 1795--Vicki will return to Collinwood and sleep, and no one will know she made Angelique's return possible.
Jeff Clark comes to Collinwood at 2 a.m. and finds the front door partly open. He knocks and wakes Roger, demanding to see Vicki. Roger complains but Jeff is so insistent, he goes to wake her.
Nicholas and Cassangelique stand outside Collinwood, synchronizing their stories--he's her brother--everyone believes that. Some family members are suspicious of Cassandra (for which he chastises her), but she thinks she can win them over with Nicholas' help. His help may be needed to make sure the dream curse continues. He reminds her of their bargain, which means "more than anything else" to him (wonder what that is?). She seems uneasy about this "bargain," but promises to keep it.
Roger returns to tell Jeff that Vicki isn't in her bed, although she was at earlier in the evening. They both find it unusual. Jeff mentions that the front door was open when he arrived. Jeff leaves to look for her. Roger wants to join him and slips on his coat, but before he gets out the door, he is greeted by Cassandra. They embrace (her kiss is not enthusiastic)--she's so happy to be home-she foolishly left on impulse--she's weak, not good at facing hostility--she had to get away.
Roger assures his wife that everyone will accept her in time. She understands and promises not to disappear again. Cassandra claims she went to Philadelphia, where she grew up and feels secure. Roger can't believe she wouldn't tell him, but forgives her-then suddenly remembers Vicki. Cassandra is concerned that she is gone.
In the woods, a nightgowned Vicki is wandering around in a trance. Jeff finds her and shakes her. She wakes and wonders why she's outside. Jeff tells her she's been sleepwalking. Vicki finds she's clutching a button in her hand. Jeff puts it in his pocket and takes her back to Collinwood.
Roger and Cassandra are discussing Vicki's possible whereabouts when Nicholas comes downstairs. Brother and sister greet each other happily. She apologizes for worrying him. He scolds her for running away. He tells Roger that she needs people to be strict with her. Roger realizes how happy his wife is and tells Nicholas that he can stay as long as he wishes. Nicholas may take him up on the invitation. Jeff and Vicki return.
Vicki's eyes get wide when she sees Cassandra--you're back, she says. When Cassandra offer to take her upstairs, Vicki yelps, "No!" Instead, Jeff takes her.
The remaining threesome troop into the drawing room. When Roger leaves to get champagne, Nicholas notes that Vicki is suspicious of Cassandra, and promises to do something about her-and quickly.
In her room, Vicki tells Jeff that she is terrified of Cassandra, and hoped that she was gone forever. Vicki tells him how strongly she resembles Angelique--she can't prove anything, but she's scared, of both Cassandra and her brother. Jeff promises to protect her-he won't leave her. They kiss. Vicki asks why he was here so early in the morning I know I'm Peter Bradford, confesses Jeff--the memory of his past came back to him in a dream. However, Jeff's memory differs from Vicki's--he saw himself escaping from the jail cell and shooting Nathan Forbes, who laughed--he wouldn't die. I can't die, said Nathan, because I'm already dead. Vicki tells him it didn't happen--Peter neither escaped nor killed Nathan, although he wanted to do so. Jeff can't believe it didn't happen because it was so vivid. Vicki thinks he's heard her talk about 1795 so much that he dreamed about it--he probably is Jeff Clark (quite the flip-flop, Vicki!)
No, says Jeff, I'm Peter Bradford! Vicki advises him to go to Stokes and get hypnotized--then they'll both know for sure who he is. Jeff promises he'll go, and kisses her. They are interrupted by Nicholas, who enters the room to ask if he can do anything for her. Jeff notices that Nicholas is missing a button on his jacket. He pulls out the button Vicki was carrying-- it's a match.
NOTES: Uh oh, looks like Nicholas has been caught! How will he explain his button being found on Vicki? Doesn't it appear that he had something to do with her sleepwalking, or perhaps did something to her while she was sleepwalking?
I guess it's back to making Roger think he's having sex with her for Cassandra. She must be forced to drug him every night! But somehow, I'm sure this marriage hasn't yet been consummated, although whether or not Roger knows that is another story, LOL.
I don't think we ever do learn what Nicholas and Angelique's dark bargain was, but it sure is interesting, and possibly titillating, to speculate on what it might have been.
Love, Robin
