Carolyn joins them--I love visiting Cousin Barnabas, she says, like one in a dream, but I can't understand why you insisted just because Mother is away--"I think it was a very good idea for her to take David and Hallie on a trip" she blathers--they've had no vacation at all this year.Stokes purses his lips, downcast. I'll go spend the weekend at the beach house, says Carolyn--could I, Cousin? she happily asks Barnabas. We'll decide that later, he replies. We always used to go there this time of year, says Carolyn girlishly--I loved it in the fall--the leaves are red, dying. . .she closes her eyes, then, her mood changing from light to dark, says, something happened at Collinwood--what?--who are those men?--who set fire to it? She abruptly giggles, switching gears--how silly I am, it was only a nightmare, I don't remember what it was about now--I should go upstairs and pack a bag so I'll be ready to go to the shore in the morning--it will be so lovely to be by the sea, and alone. She leaves. You must get her to a psychiatrist at once, says Stokes, she should be at Windcliff. I keep hoping the effects of what had happened would wear off, sighs Barnabas. That's not true, says Stokes, you told me yourself she was...she will be just the same in 1995. She would harm no one, says Barn.
Fascinating conversation between Barnabas and Jason. Jason wonders how Barnabas knows about him, while Jason finds Barnabas' resemblance to the portrait uncanny.
Barnabas asks Vicki if she has any idea what is going on with Roger--she doesn't, but it scares her. Why does he think he's Joshua? wonders Barn. Vicki suggests that only Joshua escaped Angelique's witchcraft (what about Millicent and Daniel?), but perhaps she's trying to finish what she started. That sounds too incredible, opines Barnabas, but Vicki says after what she's been through, anything is possible. He suggests she shouldn't let her imagination run away with her, but she says it's not her imagination, it's her memory she fears. Barnabas notes the marks are gone from Vicki's throat.If Ang uses her powers, says Vicki, no one in the family will be spared--this scares her terribly. Vicki notices how remote Barnabas seems, but he assures her he's all right, he just felt weak (translation: he felt like biting her for a moment there).
Quentin is clearly nervous when Beth joins him in the drawing room. You're just the person I wanted to see; he says. Beth doesn't believe him. Why should you? asks Quentin you never believe anything I say. Very little, she admits. It was true, he insists--sometimes, at night, this house. . .when I think of all the strange, inexplicable things that have happened here--as if a curse had been put on it. I don't believe in curses, she assures him. You're much too modern, chides Quentin. I hope so, she says. I like that, he says, his face very close to hers--no matter how far away I've gone from Collinwood, I seem to belong to it more and more - that makes me very unhappy. It must, says Beth quietly. He observes that for once--you're not snapping and biting, taking the opposite side. I know what it's like, wanting to get away from certain people and things, she says--I'm sorry I said that--you won't stop trying to find out more about it. We are friends, Quentin reminds her--after years of battling, and in two minutes, we're friends--perhaps you'll even agree we can be more than friends. She changes the subject.
Barnabas, left alone with Lang, takes the harpoon into his hands and explains that Roger was not there for an examination, but to kill Lang!Lang takes back the harpoon, shocked at Barnabas' pronouncement. He asks Barn if he's lost his mind.No, replies Barnabas--but Roger temporarily lost his. Why would he harm him, asks Lang--Roger is a wealthy man with a rep to protect, why would he kill someone he barely knows? Barn explains Roger had no choice--he didn't know why he was there--Roger was possessed by Angelique. Ridiculous, insists Lang--this witch lived 200 years ago, so how could she reach across time to possess Roger? Her spirit is very much alive and determined to perpetuate the curse, says Barn. Lang, a man of science, doesn't buy this. What about your brutal headache and blindness? Barnabas reminds him--a spell caused by Angelique and executed by Roger from Collinwood via black magic. Roger stole your headpiece, says Barn, returning it to him. I misplaced it, insists Lang. No, it was stolen, says Barn, found in Roger's room. Lang sits down, considering all this information with astonishment. It's true, says Barnabas, and although Roger failed to kill him, Ang will order him to try again.
Angelique closes the double doors and says, Quentin, when Barnabas came to ask my help, I had to decide whether or not I would give it--I've decided to do help you get to New York--on one condition--that you take me with you. Angelique...he says. Is the idea so abhorrent to you? she asks. I was willing to marry you and live here at Collinwood--"What choice did I have, after you threatened to kill Amanda?" he asks, eyes half closed. Amanda! she rants, there's a new life waiting for you in New York, a new life with HER, that's what you keep thinking, her, not me! You answered your own questions, says Q--her, not you. She sits beside him and presses her hand to his face. "Look at me," she says--there's so much I can do for you, if you'll only let me--at least let me try to make you happy--I can, I promise you I can--please take me to New York with you. I can't, he says, and even if I told you I'd promise not to look for Amanda, I couldn't keep that promise--every night I went to bed, I'd be thinking tomorrow might be the day I'd find her. Then you aren't willing to pay my price for helping you? she asks. I can't, he says, yawning. I see, she says softly, very disappointed. My eyes are burning, he says, I swear I'd do anything just to get some sleep, close them for a while. But you can't, she says, grabbing his arm. "It must be quite wonderful to be loved the way you love Amanda Harris," says Ang wistfully. It only happens once in a lifetime, he says (and should have been Beth!).With ordinary people, yes, says Ang, teary.
he asks her to stay, please--"Stay with Adam." She can't stay long, but she will help him, if he wants. He says he does, gazing at her with love. She notices how many more words he can say, and wonders how. Yes, Adam learn very good, he says (grammar isn't amongst his accomplishments). He displays that he knows the words ground, wall, door, outside, inside, feet, clothes, hands, face, hair (and of course, he touches her hair as he says it). She's amazed, wondering who taught him all those things. Stokes, he says. Joe was right, she realizes, Adam was staying with the professor--why are you here, why aren't you with Stokes? He couldn't, he says--he can't return there--Stokes angry at me for being bad--he didn't tell him that, exactly, and Stokes doesn't know he's in the root cellar, but he knows the professor is mad. Carolyn teaches him to say "I" instead of Adam, and asks if he was happy with Stokes. Yes, he says, Carolyn wants to take him back there, but he refuses. You have no food and it isn't safe, she points out, and Stokes must realize that when you ran from his house, it was out of fear and he isn't angry. No, says Adam, I can't go back there. Carolyn decides to get Stokes, bring him here, assures Adam he isn't angry--stay-and don't leave before I get back, she says.
He tries to sidestep around her accusation that he paid Vicki a visit the night before, but he defensively claims he only wanted to LOOK at her.Bull, says Julia, I know what you are and what you REALLY wanted.
That's not mine, I gave it to you, says Burke seriously. It was just in fun, says Carolyn. I never do anything in fun, says Burke, gazing at her intently, the pen is yours. I couldn't, she insists, it must have cost a lot. Do you think I would give you anything that didn't cost a lot? asks Burke, handing it back--I insists that you take it. She thanks him very much and takes it back. Yes, perhaps you can write down your innermost secrets with it, suggests Burke. I have no secrets, says Carolyn, gazing at the pen. Then you're very fortunate, says Burke. Maybe I'll use it to write down what happens to me every day--I'll start a diary, she says.You're right, says Burke, everyone should have a diary from the day they are born--the pen is yours. She examines it, takes off the cap (it's a fountain pen), replaces it.
Collinwood - Bags are packed, waiting in the foyer. Quentin exits the drawing room with a note from Samantha (don't ask me how that happened) the contents of which he dubs "beautiful:" "Dear Quentin--I've done you a great injustice in regard to Tad--whatever else went wrong between us, it didn't involve Tad--I lied to you, he is your son--for Tad's sake, you must know the truth--Samantha." They hug each other joyously. Come on, the carriage is waiting, says Quentin.
Tad and Carrie come in, expressing fear over being taken to Windcliff. It's a hospital or something, says Carrie.Before night! says Tad. Don't you understand? says Carrie--if they catch us, we won't be able to bring Gerard back! You must go, insists Daphne. We can't--Gerard! says Tad, holding her hands. He'll understand, says Daphne. He will NOT understand, you know he won't! says Tad. He never understands, adds Carrie. Gerard will understand, insists Daphne, you must do whatever he tells you to do. She puts placating hands on their shoulders, and, even as Tad cries no, pushes them out the door and orders, return to Collinsport (I'm assuming Collinwood). Run! Daphne says, closing the door after them.
We've got to find Quentin, insists Roger. I can't believe he did this, says Liz. No one wants to, says Roger, but... He was always so fond of Carolyn, Liz reminds him. He's not as he was, says Roger. Why is he like he is, why? demands Liz--what made him this way--if I'd only listened to Carolyn when she said she'd seen him. She must have been telling the truth, says Roger. Julia listens to everything; hearing this latter, she carefully asks Liz, when did Carolyn say she saw Quentin? Yesterday, she said, reveals Liz. Roger speculates--Carolyn must have gone to the tower to try to see him again. If I'd only talked to her, reasoned with her, laments Liz, instead of just dismissing her story as a mad delusion. I'm guilty of that, too, confesses Roger--Carolyn told me a secret, one (he turns to Julia and stops)--it's all our fault, really, he says, we've gone on living in this house half suspecting Quentin was here, ignoring all the signs that pointed to more violence. Liz rises from the sofa--I'm going to my room, she announces. I'll go with you, Julia offers. No, says Liz, please--if there was only something constructive I could do to let me know I won't feel this way forever. You shouldn't be alone, insists Roger. I want to be alone for a few moments, says Liz, and leaves.
Philip can't guess what country it's from. Megan asks Barn if he knows where it's from, but he says he knows little about it--it was given to him. Surely whoever gave it to you must have told you, says Philip, but Barn says noHe's never looked inside, and asks them if they think that strange. Megan smiles and says they're very curious people. Philip asks if he'd consider selling it, but Megan tells her hubby they could never afford it. Barnabas doesn't want it in a shop, but they assure him they would never do that with it. He tells them he can see they are true collectors, and that they will discuss it another time.