Farewell, Isabella Hoopes. She was fantastic in every frame.
Edward regards his grandmother without a shred of pity. Meanwhile, out in the hall, Barnabas listens fearfully to every word.
Barn has made Magda and Sandor clean up the OH. Like that at Collinwood, the drawing room is full of Belter-style furniture. Welcome lavender circular settee in front of the fireplace. Barn and Magda have a great argument about getting the coffin from the mausoleum to the OH basement.
Edith gleefully taunts Edward about the money, then asks, Is Judith alive? Did HE kill her? Edward says no and tries to get her to explain about the mausoleum.
Barnabas meets Carl in what is the greatest cliffhanger in the whole show! He seems to regard the wildly unstable Carl with some pity, maybe thinking of Willie.
FABULOUS Edith monologue, error-free too: Edith wakes up again. Are you feeling better? Edward asks her impassively. She tells him, Every time I close my eyes, I think I’m looking at this room for the last time: So many things have happened to me in this room. Did I tell you the secret yet? No, Edward replies. Why don’t I remember the right things? she frets, then suddenly she cries out, What are you doing here? You are dead! You are dead! Keep away from me, Daniel! [yes, that Daniel, her father-in-law] I always hated you! You ruined my husband! You never were a father to him. You made us live in this house--I hated it! We wanted to live in the Old House. I begged you. You said, "No, No, if you are going to be a Collins, you must live at Collinwood." That's what you said. I found out what it was to be a Collins, she says bitterly, near tears. I found out. Go away from me, she calls out. Don't come near me, Daniel. If I am dying--I won't go with you! Send for someone else! Send someone else for me! Edward assures her, You aren’t dying, Grandmother. Please, make Daniel go away, she begs him. No one else is here, he tells her. Then she thinks she hears dancing downstairs. Are they dancing downstairs? she asks. They shouldn’t be dancing, she complains--your father is so ill. Edward tries to get her back to the secret, but Edith is still back in the past. She laughs as she remembers, My mother warned, “Never tell Edith a secret. Edith can’t help but tell it.” She must have told you that. I remember, it happened the day before my-- wedding. Thoroughly bored with his grandmother’s rambling, Edward reminds her sourly, I’m your grandson. You haven’t told me the secret. Please tell me, he begs her. She stops laughing and looks worried. Everyone keeps asking me, she says querulously, Judith, Carl, even Quentin. Poor Quentin, she murmurs. I don’t want to waste time talking about Quentin, Edward says crossly. I was quite upset to find that you let Quentin come back. Edward is always upset, Edith laughs, as if talking to someone else. But I mustn’t start on that--I have no time. Meanwhile, Barnabas’s desperation has overcome his terror. He is back at his listening post in the upstairs hallway when suddenly Edward wrenches the door open. Barnabas says, I was wondering how your grandmother is. Edward invites him in and tells him, I apologize for being curt with you--I didn’t welcome you properly. While Edith murmurs in her sleep, Edward asks Barnabas, Please tell me about yourself.
Magda reads the cards for Carl (the Hanged Man, or the Joker) and tells him that his grandmother (the Queen of Cups) will have the last laugh. Meanwhile, Edith beckons Edward to come closer as Barnabas looks on in fear.
The money will not stay with whoever gets it, Magda declares. If I get it, it certainly will, Carl declares. I’ll kick out my two brothers and Judith too. Magda draws the next card, La Mort--which usually means change, not death. Magda gasps and stands up, circling the room a few times while she waves her hands as if to ward something off. What’s wrong? Carl asks. What are you doing? I paid you money--you’d better finish, he orders her. Be quiet, she tells him impatiently. She holds her breath a moment, then collapses in a chair. Edith is dead, she declares tonelessly. Stunned, Carl asks, How did you know? The card--and then...I felt her spirit, Magda answers. Where? Carl demands, but Magda only announces, The reading is over. You’ll have to wait for the will--the cards are silent. Incensed, Carl grabs her and shakes her as he asks, Did Grandmother tell Edward the secret? No, Magda replies. Carl drops to his knees, insisting, Someone has to know! Someone does, Magda replies, her voice heavy with irony. But she must have! Carl exclaims. Someone has to know! Magda replies, Someone knows--and it ain’t Edward. Carl shakes her even harder, shouting, Tell me who _does know_! Impatiently she swats him and pushes him away. Go! Go, get out! she orders him. Grieve for your grandmother. I am going to, at least, she adds, her voice full of genuine sorrow.
Magda’s sight was true: Edith is dead, the terrible secret untold. Edward reaches down and closes his grandmother’s lifeless eyes. He tells Barnabas, She is gone--but I am going to find out that secret somehow--if it is the last thing I ever do!...
