1238 - Melanie's mother is none other than Josette Collins! Mother and daughter run into each other's arms, thrilled. "Melanie, my Melanie," croons Josette.
Kendrick, considerate enough to leave them alone in their reunion, says, I'll be downstairs. As Josette caresses her face, Melanie says, there's no one else in the world I would rather have for a mother than you--I've always felt close to you!--when I was a little girl, you used to stop and talk to me, stroke my hair, straighten my hair ribbons. I know, says Josette--each time I stroked your hair, I came close to telling you the truth. Why couldn't you tell me? asks Melanie--why couldn't we have lived our life together?--Mother, you should have kept me. Outside the door, Julia eavesdrops. I couldn't, says Josette. But why? asks Melanie I just couldn't, says Josette--please, darling, let's leave it at that. No, says Melanie, please, Mother, tell me everything. Julia joins them. Melanie looks eager, Josette sad. I'd say you have told her enough now, says Julia coldly. I haven't told her anything, protests Josette--she found out for herself. You could have denied it, says Julia. No, I've denied her long enough, insists Josette--she's my daughter and I'll deny her no longer--I should never have given her up. You had no choice, says Julia. I did have a choice, says Josette, I made up my mind that I'd take Bramwell and my baby and go somewhere no one knew us and we knew no one (how old was Bramwell then? Wasn't he at least a teenager, and knew his mother had had a baby?)--I'd made all the arrangements, even rented a small flat in Boston. Then what happened? asks Melanie. Josette was "persuaded" that a poor widow with no kin could not raise two children in a manner that was good for them, says Julia. That's right, says Josette--I knew if I stayed here, you would get all the care and comfort you needed, but the thing was, we couldn't stay together--THEY wanted you in the great house. Who wanted me? demands Melanie. Never mind, says Julia. Melanie objects--I've waited so long to get to the bottom of this--please! I imagine SHE has been waiting, too, says Julia icily--waiting for you to find out so she could announce that she's your mother--even though she had promised to give you up. Do you think any mother can REALLY give up her child? asks Josette angrily. You do know there are such things as honor and keeping promises, says Julia. Promise--a promise to whom? asks Melanie--I want to know! And you shall know, vows Josette, right now. Josette, no! says Julia--telling the truth now can benefit no one--is it worth destroying the whole family?--I beg of you! It's no use, I'm going to tell her the rest, says Josette--and nothing you can say will stop me! No, says Julia sarcastically--I suppose there isn't any way to stop you, you're so overwhelmed today, you'll do anything for your newly-claimed daughter--you don't care who else you hurt. Julia, says Melanie, incensed, don't speak to my mother that way! Your mother is... begins Julia. Leave us alone, orders Melanie. Julia appeals to Josette--please. This is my bedroom, insists Melanie. Julia gives Josette one last look and goes. Now you must tell me everything, says Melanie--why did you come back here instead of staying in Boston?--why did they want me at the great house?--whom did you promise to keep silent? It was your father, says Josette--he insisted. My father? repeats Melanie. Yes, darling, says Josette, your father--Justin Collins. (Wow, what a bomb! She cheated on Barnabas?) Melanie is stunned.
Justin Collins was my father, says Melanie wonderingly, I can't believe it. It's true, says Josette, you're as much a Collins as any of the others, and just as much his child. Then you and Papa were...in love, says Melanie. Looking back on it now, says Josette, it's hard to tell whether we were or not--it started after Barnabas' death in that terrible period of bereavement when one needs kindness so badly. And Papa was kind, guesses Melanie--no one was ever so kind as he. No one was, agrees Josette--he put anything he was doing aside to help me--when I had to go to Boston to see to Barnabas' estate, he went with me--she smiles--Boston was a separate world that belonged to just the two of us--and after a while, I found out I was going to have a child--you were that child, Melanie. (Sounds like old Justin was as randy as the rest of the male Collinses, doesn't it?) What did Papa say when you told him? asks Melanie hesitantly. I don't think I've ever seen a man so happy, says Josette--he hoped you'd be a girl, he said a man was entitled to a daughter after he had three sons--oh, I wanted you to know that, Melanie--how happy he was that you were to be born--he didn't have a single doubt about you coming and neither did I. Melanie, thrilled, says thanks, Josette, for telling me this. He offered to leave Flora and go away with us, says Josette, but I knew that was wrong--Justin belonged here with those three boys, so I ran away by myself. Where did you go? asks Melanie. Boston's a big city, says Josette--he wasn't able to track me down for quite a while--not until after you were born--and then he was furious--he thought it would be wrong for you to be raised in Boston--he insisted that I let him take you back to Collinwood and raise you here--and finally he convinced me it was the best thing for you and you were the only one that mattered--now can you understand why I had to give you up--why I couldn't claim you? Melanie kneels at her mother's feet and holds her. How hard it must have been for you, Mother, she says, how very hard to see me grow up as somebody else's child. They hug.
Julia comes downstairs and into the drawing room, where Kendrick is reading the newspaper. I'm sorry there is nothing better to entertain you than the Collinsport Gazette, she says--I'm sure you'd prefer a private diary or some intimate letters.
That remark was not necessary, he says, rising to his feet. I don't think it was necessary for someone to come into this house and pry and pick away at all our secrets, which is precisely what you have done, she accuses. If I have, it's because those secrets were better off in the open! he says. Oh, is that for you to decide? she asks. Yes, he says yes, it is for me to decide, if it concerns Melanie. And I suppose you intend telling everyone what you've just discovered? asks Julia. I will do what Melanie and her mother want me to do, says Kendrick. I can't believe they would want to hurt Flora, says Julia--I must insist Flora not be told of this. I sympathize with your feelings and wants to hurt no one, he says--I will do what Melanie and her mother want me to do. Julia bites her lip. Now, if I may ask you a question--if you won't accuse me of prying, he says, how did you find out? How did I find out? she repeats--a long time ago, I took some of Justin's clothes to a charity in the village--in one of the coat pockets I found a letter that told me enough so I surmised the rest--I always blessed the day I found the letter instead of Flora--I don't think she would have enjoyed learning that her husband had betrayed her for someone else--that's what it comes down to--he betrayed her with another woman--nothing can wipe the shame of that out for her. (Julia is quite the righteous lady, isn't she?)
Bramwell sits vigil by Daphne's bedside. "Daphne, my darling," he says, in despair. She drifts out of her coma and looks at him. Bramwell, she says, I thought I heard you call me. He smiles at her, delighted.
Have I been sleeping all along? asks Daphne. He holds her hand--yes, he says, you had a long sleep--how do you feel now? Very tired, she says--I feel as if I'd run a long distance or come from very far away--Bramwell, I feel very, very grateful. No more grateful than I am that you found your way back to me, he says happily. You're grateful? she asks. I want you to conserve your strength, he says, now just listen and don't talk--all the time you were lying there, when it seemed you wouldn't come back, I felt so much despair--so much bleakness in my soul--so much anger. Anger? she asks. Yes, he says, because I know now how deeply I love you and despaired I'd ever be able to tell you how much. Oh, but you did tell me--don't you remember? she asks. He looks puzzled. No, you couldn't, she says, that was my dream--while I was sleeping, I dreamed I had your son--and the look on your face when you saw him for the first time told me how much you love me. Bramwell dips his head down, deeply ashamed. He doesn't say anything. What's the matter? she asks. Nothing, he says. Yes there is, she says, something's wrong--I was wrong to come back, wasn't I?--she begins to sit up--I was wrong--I should have... He eases her back down--lie still, he urges. He sits on the bed with her--don't upset yourself--the truth is, I do love you, he vows. Then don't turn away from me, she says. I won't, he assures her. Don't you want to have a child? she asks (yes, and I already am--with your sister). Right now I want you to get well, he says--rest, get back your strength, think of nothing and no one but yourself and your health. What will you think about? she asks. You, he says --I may have failed you as a husband up until now, but from now on, everything will be different--I won't fail you again, ever--give me the rest of our lives to prove that.
And Bramwell is my brother! Melanie exults to Josette--well, my half brother, actually--I've always felt so close to him--do you remember, even when I was a very little girl, I was always tagging after him instead of Morgan, Gabriel or even Quentin? I remember it so well, says Josette--I used to see the two of you go off together and wish I could tell you both the truth--tell the whole world the truth--would you like that? Yes, bubbles Melanie, I want the whole world to know whose child I am! Josette is equally eager to share this news. No! orders Julia from the doorway--no one must know. This doesn't concern you, says Melanie. It does, says Julia--you two are so overwhelmed by what's happening, you don't know what you're doing--but I have not lost my senses and am aware of my obligations to the family--and I tell you, you will not say anything--I forbid it!
I've let your branch of the family tell me what to do for far too long, says Josette resentfully--but no longer!--I'm not a child you can forbid... Yes you are a child, interrupts Julia, a willful child--and you're determined to use Melanie for revenge against those you think treated you badly. That isn't fair, objects Melanie--we don't want to harm anyone. You'll hurt yourselves, counters Julia--and you'll hurt Flora---she's been through so much lately--do you want to destroy the woman who raised you?--take away what little she has left? I don't want to harm Flora or anyone, repeats Melanie--but neither do I want to deny my mother the chance to tell the truth. You can't have it both ways, says Julia--you have to make a decision and face the consequences. Why are you so concerned? asks Melanie. I am Justin's sister, says Julia, now that he is dead, I owe it to him to take care of Flora, and I've not forgotten my obligation to the family. The family, snaps Melanie, always the family! Yes, agrees Julia, but don't forget, it's your family, too, as much as mine--Flora didn't know that when she took you in--you were just a waif who needed a home--and she gave you one--she begrudged you nothing. All right, says Melanie, if it's agreeable to my mother, we shall say nothing. Josette nods. What about Kendrick? asks Julia--he said he'll do whatever you want. You've spoken to him, says Melanie--I must talk to him right away. She leaves Julia and Josette alone. I must go, too, says Josette. No, says Julia, wait--there is one other thing we have to settle, you and I
--it's best for everyone concerned if you never come to Collinwood again. WHAT? demands Josette. You heard me, says Julia--you can see Melanie whenever and wherever you like--but not here. You cannot treat me as an outcast! Josette insists. You made yourself an outcast, insists Julia, when you and Justin broke the laws of God and man. (So cold, unforgiving and self-righteous!)
"Madame, your tea," says Bramwell, carrying in a tray, "brewed by your devoted and loving servant--you'd better try it and see if it's all right." She sits up in bed and pours the tea--I'm sure it's perfect, she says. And so are you, he says, smiling down at her--drink your tea. Josette comes in--how's Daphne? she asks. She's awake, so much better, says Bramwell. Daphne, my dear, says Josette. He did it, says Daphne joyously--Bramwell willed me to come back. Josette looks depressed. Don't look so sad, says Bramwell--this is a wonderful night for all of us. Josette walks away. What's wrong? Bramwell asks. She bursts into tears and flees the room.
Collinwood drawing room - Now you know everything about me, Kendrick, says Melanie--who my mother is, who my father was. Incredible, he says. I don't know what to do now, she says, I don't want to hurt Flora, or Papa's memory, but I don't want to continue living a lie any longer--if I could just think of some way... There is a way, says Kendrick, and we are going to find it--when we're married, everything will look different. He takes her into his arms. When cane we be married? she asks. Let's go to the village and find out, he says. Make it quickly, she says, gazing into his eyes, very quickly--she hugs him. I'll go get dressed, she says.
11 PM - Julia comes downstairs into the foyer. Bramwell bursts in--what happened here tonight? he demands. Julia feigns ignorance. My mother came home a while ago, very upset, he says, I know she was here--who did she see and talk to? There's nothing I can tell you, says Julia. I don't believe that, he says viciously. Then let me say there's nothing I wish to tell you, she snaps. I've never seen my mother more upset in her life, he says. Josette comes in, horror-stricken--it's Daphne--something terrible has happened to her. He immediately leaves. Julia and Josette exchange a glance of hatred before the latter leaves, too.
Daphne, fallen very ill again, calls to Bramwell. I'm here, he assures her. I'm so glad you came in time, she says, gasping for breath--there are things I must say before I go. I won't let you go, he insists, holding her hand. No, she says, not even your love can make me stay--it seems I only came back for a visit--now I've got to go back to the darkness forever. No, Daphne, no! he protests. I'm not afraid, she assures him--darkness is comforting--and you must find comfort, too, without me. I don't want anything without you, he insists. Bramwell, she says, you say that now--but in time, you will want Catherine. He looks down. You see, she says, I can say it--you will want Catherine
--and she will want you--Bramwell, you have my blessing. She turns her head, trying to breathe, and says, you're the two people in the world I love most--and must comfort each other. Daphne, you mustn't give up, he begs. But Daphne takes one last, sighing breath and dies. "Daphne, no!--Daphne don't leave me!" he cries.
"Daphne! Daphne!" He pulls her into her arms, hugging her lifeless body.
NOTES: An incredible revelation and a death in this sad episode. Melanie and Josette are united and Bramwell and Daphne are parted by the specter of death that perpetually hangs over Collinwood.
Sounds like Justin took advantage of Barnabas' grieving widow, doesn't it? Although he offered to go away with her and the baby, Josette knew the serious consequences of such an action--or did he put those ideas into her head on purpose so he could maintain his life with Flora and his sons and have his daughter, too? Perhaps Justin wasn't such a nice guy after all. Josette could never claim her own child, and had to watch her raised in a house where she always felt herself an outcast.
I was thrilled for Melanie and Josette, but understand why Julia wanted this kept a secret. Flora would probably be devastated if she knew her husband was only human, and since all this happened so many years ago, why dredge it up now? Julia has the right instincts, but she is so cold when it comes to the passions of others!
At least Daphne felt Bramwell loved her at the end. Her rally and sudden setback seemed strange, but I guess that sometimes happens in real life, too. At least she got to say goodbye and give him her blessing about getting together with Catherine. Now, about Morgan...
Once again, Kendrick is so incredibly understanding and considerate, you have to love him.
Love, Robin
