I also liked NB's 1680 gown. I always thought she was wife no. 2, and probably in an arranged marriage. Brutus looks like just the type who would wear his wives out, if not through constant childbearing (wife no. 1) then by aggravating them to death.
In 1680, Brutus is literally playing with fire by dabbling in the occult. The witchcraft trials were in 1690 and thereabouts. But it's all of a piece with his arrogance that he seems to think he can get away with anything, up to and including murder--or whatever he did to James and Amanda. I'm not sure he was the Room's first victim, but he was probably already insane after what he did in his secret lab downstairs, so it's no wonder he wouldn't hesitate to curse his own family. It's interesting too that he cursed his own bedroom--one wonders if he slept there afterward. If so, it couldn't have done much for his mental health.
And yes, it would have been fun to see more of Constance, especially in that spiffy black and gold period gown. (I'm just a sucker for a really good costume--I loved Naomi's 1795 gowns!)
And one more thing: In parallel time, there seems to be some confusion about when the Great House was built. By rights, Brutus and Amanda should be living in the Old House, not Collinwood, which in RT wouldn't be built for another hundred years.
Brutus also seems to have been far ahead of his time in medicine. Modern, skin-piercing hypodermic needles weren't invented until 1853.