Jenny Collins! Judith shouts at the madwoman, who now has a name. Judith tries to flatter Jenny into giving her the scissors, but it doesn't work. Do you still think me pretty? Jenny asks abruptly. As pretty as when I first came? Since she is well within stabbing range, Judith cries out, Yes! You’re lying! Jenny retorts, but you won’t lie anymore--no more! Just as she lunges at Judith with the scissors, Beth rushes in and calls to Jenny. Judith lied to me! Jenny tells Beth. She locked me up and lied to me! Beth stops her cold by saying, Listen! I think I hear the babies crying. Yes, Jenny says, I hear it. Go to them now, Beth tells her and gently gets the scissors away from Jenny. Jenny walks over to the cradle (which contains two dolls) and motions for her babies to be quiet as she rocks it back and forth. Judith rushes out and leans against the railing in the hallway, weak with relief. Beth closes the door after her. The madwoman holds one of the dolls to her, cooing. Beth goes to Jenny, who tells her proudly, I'm a good mother. The best in the world, Beth agrees. No one thought I would be, Jenny observes, given where I came from, what I was. When my babies came, suddenly it was all different. Yes, Jenny dear, Beth says softly, I know. Jenny begins to croon My Live Is Like a Red, Red Rose.
Downstairs, Rachel is about to run out the door when Judith accosts her. Rachel remarks that Judith looks upset and rather pale. Judith denies both and tells Rachel sternly, clearly meaning it as a warning, I think you tend to imagine and hear things that don’t exist at all. Rachel says goodnight again and leaves.
Beth joins Judith in the foyer and tells her, Jenny has put the “babies” back to sleep. Judith exclaims in irritation, Fool! We’re all going to be as mad as _she_ is! They’re not babies, they’re breakable dolls! She has dozens of them and she can’t tell the difference between them! She can’t tell the different between anything anymore--including life and death! I won’t have it! Judith rages. Not now that this house is mine! I said nothing against you, Beth says with dignity. She just happened to find you there. All Jenny is afraid of is that you will take her babies away. They’re dolls! Judith sputters. Well, she must go. She has nowhere to go, and you know that, Beth pleads. Judith says, Rachel is beginning to suspect more than she should. She mustn’t learn about Jenny. No one must. Beth goes back upstairs, and the camera pans over to Barnabas’s portrait because--
Rachel has made a beeline to the OH and tells Barnabas about her encounter with the madwoman and also about Magda's palm-reading revelation that Rachel has a powerful enemy. Rachel is sure it's whoever was in the tower room. But there must be a mistake. I have only just arrived here, Rachel laments. I hardly know anyone. Surely no one could hate me. Yes, Rachel, someone could, Barnabas replies grimly. Here at Collinwood, old hates don’t die. They lie in wait for the innocent and unsuspecting. When we get back to Collinwood, I want you to give me your key to the Tower Room. [THE SAME KEY THAT JENNY THREW OVER THE LANDING??!!] When everyone is asleep, I will go up and find out what the secret is--the secret that seems worth killing for. That will be terribly dangerous for you! Rachel exclaims. I have lived through danger before, Barnabas replies. No one must know that we are working together, he warns her. You really can’t trust anyone here. No one is quite what they seem. Except you, Barnabas, Rachel answers. Except me, he repeats, carefully looking away from her. He takes her small hand in his. As he admires it, he wonders, Why would anyone want to harm you? After a moment, he says, Judith must be asleep by now. He escorts Rachel out. After they leave, we get another look at Josette’s portrait.
This is one of the best scenes in the entire series. Kudos to the writers, and to Marie Wallace and Terry Crawford: Up in the Tower Room, Jenny sits calmly on her cot as Beth tries to scold her. Why did you attack Miss Judith [should be Miss Collins now] with the scissors? she asks. You shouldn’t have done it. She lied to me, Jenny says as she tries ineffectually to order her mass of hair. They all lie to me. I wonder what color a lie is, she says dreamily. Blue? Green? Red, like fire? I don’t know, Beth replies irritably. Nobody knows. As Jenny stands up, she muses, Blue? Green? Green--like the dress I had? Yellow? The sun is yellow, she murmurs absently. Stop rambling, Jenny, Beth says impatiently. Taking Jenny’s face in both her hands, she makes the madwoman look at her as she warns, If you do what you did today, Miss Judith will send you away. Judith can’t do anything, Jenny scoffs--she’s nobody. That’s not true anymore, Beth tells her. She owns the house now, and everything else. She gives all the orders, even to her brothers--to everyone! Beth says with bitter disgust. And you must, too! she urges Jenny. You have got to be good, and quiet, and try to understand, or _she_ will send you far away. She will let me take my babies with me? Jenny asks, upset. Beth realizes Jenny still doesn’t get it and says, Yes, of course. Relieved, Jenny answers, Oh, that’s all that matters. She gazes fondly at the dolls in their cradle as Beth pleads, No, that’s not all that matters! You must be good! You have to be good. Yes, I’ll be good, Jenny promises absently, then pulls the blanket up over the dolls. She recalls, Where I used to live was so much warmer than it is here. Sometimes I worry that my little babies will get a cold. They’ll be fine, Beth assures her patiently. Are you telling me the truth? Jenny asks. Beth says she’s not lying. Good, Jenny answers, then comes to her own realization. Beth, she says abruptly and with passion, I know what color a lie is! It’s red! It is red like blood! She lies down on the cot and stares up at the ceiling, her eyes bright with madness.
At the front door, Barn compliments Rachel on being brave enough to go in alone to get the key. Impulsively she kisses his cheek, then instantly pulls away, embarrassed. I didn’t mean to do that! she says, then admits, Yes, I did. Barnabas gazes into her eyes and tells her to go get the key. He can’t resist putting his hand on her shoulder. Yes, of course, Rachel answers, seeming somewhat dazed. You can’t get into the Tower Room without it. Reluctantly she turns to go in; his hand trails off her shoulder as she moves away.
Unfortunately, Rachel runs into Judith again. She tries to escape by claiming she got a chill outside, but Judith practically orders her, Come and have some sherry--you can’t go to bed with a chill. As Judith pours a glass for Rachel and one for herself, it’s clear that she has already been at the decanter. Judith reminisces, My grandfather [Gabriel!] had quite a collection of sherries. I’m beginning to enjoy the delicacies more and more, she muses, savoring her new circumstances. When my grandmother was alive, she always knew to the drop what was left, but now--she hands Rachel the glass--now it’s different. Now everything is different. I propose a toast, she says, raising her own glass--to the difference.
Outside, Barn looks up at the tower room and sees the lights come on.
Meanwhile, Judith is definitely under the weather. [JB is wonderful!] One more glass of sherry and I am going up to my grandmother's room, she tells Rachel. _My_ room, she corrects herself, although she seems rather nervous for the Mistress of Collinwood. Her fingers tremble as she picks up the glass. Grandmother is in her grave, Judith says. She doesn't need her room or her bed anymore. Though, sometimes, on nights like this, it seems that she is not quite willing to give them up. Rachel has sat on the sofa, listening patiently, as she must, to her employer’s ramblings. Now she tries to leave, saying I want to go to bed. NO! Judith says belligerently. I haven’t finished talking to you. She rambles on, My grandmother enjoyed all kinds of music. She especially loved singing. I was a disappointment to her, because I couldn’t sing. Do Jamison and Nora sing well? Rachel says Yes. Both are good--I’m teaching them songs. What songs are you teaching them? Judith asks. Just as Rachel starts to reply, Judith sees Beth enter the room (properly, without knocking) behind Rachel’s back. Abruptly Judith dismisses Rachel. Despite the rudeness, Rachel escapes with relief.
Barnabas is still waiting anxiously for Rachel by the front doors. Seeing that the light in the Tower Room is gone, he wonders (nice bit by Jonathan), Why did the light go out? I must know! _I_ don't need a key to open the Tower Room door, the vampire boasts. A moment later, he chides himself, But I must do it Rachel's way! He turns to look at the closed front doors. I must use the key. Where is she? Where is she? At that moment the door opens, and Rachel comes out. I’m all right, she says, but _she_ wasn’t asleep and wanted to talk. Barnabas takes Rachel’s hands in both his own and tells her, I want you to go to bed and stay there, no matter what happens. You let me handle it. Take care of yourself, she tells him--I’ve never had many friends. Neither have I, he replies. As he takes the key, he keeps her hand in his for a moment, and they gaze into one another’s eyes again.
At 3:00 a.m., Barn slips into the house--Rachel's way. All the lights are still on and the drawing-room fire is still burning. Apparently Judith hasn't yet learned to be thrifty.
Meanwhile, Judith is pacing back and forth on the landing by the Tower Room. The door is closed. Beth emerges and assures her, _It’s_ all finished--no slip-ups. She seems confident, and Judith is pleased. Judith tells her, Go to bed. You mustn’t tell anyone about this. Remember, Beth, no one must know. I never would tell, Beth assures her. As they walk down the hall to the left, Barnabas emerges from the right, opens the door and enters the Tower Room--probably for the first time since his return to 1797 to save Victoria Winters.
Scary scene! Barnabas looks around briefly, then closes the door behind him. The room has been cleared out. The cradle and dolls are gone. The narrow cot is neatly made up. He opens the wardrobe that held Jenny’s dresses. It is now is empty--or almost. Barnabas leans over and picks something up from the bottom of the wardrobe and examines it with revulsion. It is only a doll’s head--but this one is broken and gouged, with at least one burn mark. Mystified and somewhat appalled, Barnabas puts it back in the wardrobe and prepares to leave. But suddenly the door opens behind him, and someone enters the room. Barnabas turns toward the sound. As he sees the visitor, the vampire’s face is suffused with shock, horror--and fear....
