445 - March 8, 1968

[bunniefuu]

[narrator] -A seance has been held in the great house at Collinwood,

a seance, which has suspended time and space

and sent Victoria Winters on an uncertain

and frightening journey into the past,

back to the year .

There she has found a family torn apart by strife

and fear of the unknown.

On this day one girl has come to an unexpected decision,

a decision which will lead to her downfall

and which will lead to the uncovering

of a terrifying and dangerous secret.

- Millicent.

- Oh, Cousin Naomi, you startled me.

- I'm sorry. Are you going somewhere?

- Yes. Into town.

- Are you going shopping?

- Yes.

I - I suppose I may as well tell you,

you'll find out soon enough anyway.

- What?

- Nathan Forbes has asked me to be his wife

and I have accepted.

We're going to be married.

- Married?

-Millicent!

♪♪

[eerie theme music] ♪♪

Did I hear you correctly

or my ears are playing tricks on me?

- I did not know you were listening, Cousin Joshua.

If I had, I would have not said a word.

- Surely, you're joking.

- I would not make light of a matter

so serious as marriage, Cousin.

- Do you seriously intend to marry Forbes?

- Yes.

And even you cannot stop me. No one can.

- But Millicent, only yesterday you said you hoped

you'd never see Lieutenant Forbes again.

- But that was before. - Before what?

- Before he saved my life

and in doing so, risked his own.

- Nonsense! Forbes is too selfish

to risk his life for anyone.

- He was very brave, Cousin,

and I might have been k*lled had he not rescued me.

- His sudden appearance was most convenient.

What was he doing on the property anyway?

I told him I would have him shot if he returned to Collinwood.

- He came to say goodbye to me,

to tell me he was leaving Collinsport,

and it was lucky for me that he did

because the man who attacked me intended to k*ll me.

- Millicent, I can understand you're being grateful

but to marry so suddenly.

- It isn't sudden, Cousin Naomi.

I love Nathan.

I - I've always loved him.

I didn't know how much until I realized

I might never see him again.

- Have you forgotten that he deceived you?

- He - he was afraid to tell me about his wife,

and they were planning to be divorced.

- So he says, of course, he could say anything

without fear of contradiction since his wife is dead.

- I believe him.

- And you're more gullible than I thought. - Gullible?

- Don't you realize that Lieutenant Forbes

is interested in only one thing?

- You're money. - Joshua.

- That's not true.

- Isn't it?

My poor child,

do you think a man like Forbes

would look twice at you if you were penniless.

- Joshua, don't-- - I don't wish to be cruel, Naomi,

- but she may as well know the truth.

- It is not the truth.

- You know it is.

- I do not.

Nathan loves me for myself.

He does not care about my money.

- Do you really believe that?

- Yes.

I intend to marry Lieutenant Forbes.

I intend to become his wife.

- I forbid it.

- I do not need your permission to marry me, Cousin.

I am of age.

I may marry whomever I choose

and I have chosen Lieutenant Forbes.

- Millicent! Don't force me to take steps.

- Steps?

- I'll have you declared insane.

- Insane?

- Yes, and I would to prevent this travesty

from going any forever.

- Joshua, what are you saying?

- I am saying that she is not responsible

for the decision she is being making

and possibly a rest will do her good.

- I'm not insane. I'm not!

- Then why did you try to k*ll Lieutenant Forbes,

the man you now say you're going to marry?

- Oh, I was angry with him. I thought he had deceived me.

I did not understand him.

- You don't understand him now.

You don't understand the world or anything around you.

Today more than anything else has convinced me of that.

- You cannot do this to me. You can't.

- I can and I will if I must.

[knocking]

Well, Forbes.

- Hello, Mr. Collins.

- You have the audacity to come here to this house?

- I need to speak to you.

- Nathan.

Nathan, they know about us,

and Cousin Joshua is threatening to have declared insane.

- Nothing like that is going to happen to you, Millicent.

- It will not if you and Millicent

say good bye right now.

- I need to speak to you, Mr. Collins.

- I have nothing to you say to you.

Good bye, sir.

- I think you do,

if you'll just spare me two minutes of your time.

- Two minutes is too much to waste on you.

You and Millicent will not marry.

- That's right, we won't.

- Nathan!

- Unless we have your permission.

- I would never permit such a marriage.

- I believe you might change your mind, sir,

to speak to me for just a minute alone.

- All right.

I would be curious to hear what you have to say.

Come with me.

- Nathan, he cannot stop us. He can't.

- Don't worry, Millicent.

Everything is going to be all right.

- He's got to persuade Cousin Joshua to give us permission.

He's got to.

♪♪

- Alright, Lieutenant.

You have two minutes.

Say what you'll have to say and then go.

- There are several reasons why

you should permit us to marry, Mr. Collins.

- What are they?

- First of all, I love Millicent and she loves me.

She wants to be my wife.

- I have never been swayed by sentimentality

particularly from the mouth of a liar and a hypocrite.

- Those are harsh word, sir. - But descriptive.

- You may not like me

but you may discover to be to your advantage

if I would have become a member of this family.

- My advantage?

- Every great family has secrets, sir,

secrets that should be kept within the family circle.

I'm sure you would agree with that.

- What are you hinting at?

- Ah, you're forcing me to say something

that I hope that I would not have to say.

But for Millicent's sake, I must.

- Will you stop talking in riddles and get to the point!

- Very well, you see, sir,

I know your secret.

I know the secret you've been hiding for months.

Surely, I need say no more.

♪♪

- I want to know what you're getting at.

It is obviously a bluff.

- I can assure it isn't.

- You surprise me, Lieutenant.

I gave you credit for having more intelligence.

Do you really think that you could blackmail me

into my giving permission to you and Millicent to marry

on the assumption that I have some terrible secret

- that I'm trying to hide. - I assume nothing.

- Then you don't know anything that could possibly interest me

and I can see that this has been a waste of my time.

Good bye, Lieutenant.

- I know the truth about Barnabas.

- Barnabas?

- Yes. I know he never went to England.

- Nonsense. Of course, he did.

- That's not possible.

- Why?

- Because he is here.

Right here in Collinsport.

- Well, it's preposterous.

He's been in England for weeks.

- Mr. Collins, I've seen him. - What?

- I've seen him and so has several other people.

- Who? - Suki for one.

- You're wife is dead.

- Oh, she died murmuring Barnabas's name.

When I found her on the floor of the Old House

just after she'd been attacked I asked her who did it to her,

she said Barnabas, Barnabas Collins.

She said several times before she died.

- That meant nothing.

Your wife didn't know what she was saying.

She - she could have said anything.

- Possibly.

Have you ever heard of a woman named Maude Browning?

- A woman who was m*rder*d? - Yes.

- What about her?

- She saw Barnabas, too.

- How do you know? - She told me.

- She was attacked once before but managed to escape.

She gave a description of the man who attacked her.

It was s perfect description of Barnabas.

- She was at -

she was attacked by a man who looked like Barnabas.

- No, no, Mr. Collins.

Don't forget I've seen him, too.

- Where?

- In the Old House.

- In the Old House?

- Before Maude died,

I went to her room to warn her to get out of town.

I heard someone going through her things inside the room.

It was Ben.

I was curious to know what he was doing in Maude's room,

so I hid myself then I followed him when he left.

He went to the Old House.

I heard voices coming from inside

so I looked through the window.

There was Barnabas.

- That is impossible. It can't be. - Mr. Collins.

- Millicent was attacked last night on the grounds

less than a mile from the Old House.

The man who attacked her dropped something.

Would you care to identify this?

- I-- - It belongs to Barnabas, doesn't it?

- It did.

- Barnabas, is the only man in Collinsport

whoever owned one like it.

It's distinctive as his signature.

I found it last night

not ten feet from the spot where Millicent was attacked.

Now, what do you say to that?

- None of this makes any sense.

- It makes very good sense!

Barnabas has lost his mind

and become some kind of a maniac

- and you're hiding him in the Old House. - No.

- It's no use lying, Mr. Collins.

I know he is there. I've seen him.

- He... he can't be.

I tell you he can't be.

- You know, I--

I could almost believe you don't know anything about this.

- I don't.

- I believe you're telling the truth.

- I am.

- Well, it doesn't matter.

I'm sure you don't want me to go to the authorities

and tell them the things that I have told you

- which is what I should do. - No!

- All right then.

Perhaps you'll decide Millicent and I should be married.

Perhaps you'll even give us your blessing.

- I-- - You don't have to decide now.

- You think it over.

I'll wait for your decision in the drawing room.

- It can't be.

Barnabas is dead.

Dead.

♪♪

- Lieutenant Forbes.

- Oh, Mrs. Collins.

- I thought you'd be gone by now. - No.

- Where is my husband?

- He is in his study.

- Well, I think you better leave before he comes out.

- No, no, no. He asked me to wait here.

He is deciding whether or not

he's going to consent to the marriage.

- Well, he'll never consent under any circumstances.

He's made his decision and he never changes his mind.

What did you say to him?

- Oh, I simply told him how much I love Millicent

and how much we wanted to be married.

- And that's all?

- Yes.

- And he said he might give his consent on that basis?

- That's right. - No, he wouldn't.

He wouldn't listen to an argument like that.

- Perhaps, Mrs. Collins,

you underestimate my powers of persuasion.

- There was a time, Lieutenant Forbes,

when I was fund of you,

and I would have been happy to see you and Millicent married.

- I'm sorry you put that in the past tense, Mrs. Collins.

- But I've seen a side of you that I do not admire.

I do not admire a man who deceives Millicent

and testifies against Miss Winters.

- I did not mean to deceive Millicent.

As for Miss Winters,

I did only what I felt to be my duty.

- Can you answer one question, honestly?

- I'll try.

- Do you really care for Millicent?

- Of course. I love her very much.

- Well, if that's true, you must realize

that she's been quite ill.

- Ill?

- Not physically, mentally.

- Millicent is perfectly sane.

- She is fragile,

and she has undergone a series of shocks.

Under the best of circumstances,

this is not the time for her to be thinking of marriage.

- Are you asking me to give up the woman I love? - No.

- I'm asking you to wait.

If you love her, that is not asking much.

- It's a great deal to ask.

- Then you intend to marry right away? - Yes!

- If your husband gives his permission,

and I believe he will.

- If you'll excuse me, I must speak to my husband.

Joshua.

- What is it, Naomi? - I must speak to you.

- I can't speak with you now, Naomi.

- But it is important.

Is the lieutenant telling the truth?

Are you going to give your consent to the marriage?

- Not now, Naomi.

- And - and you actually persuaded Cousin Joshua

to listen to you.

- He listened to me, all right.

- Oh, Cousin Joshua--

- I can't talk with you now, Millicent.

- But Lieutenant Forbes has been telling me about

the chat you had, and I thought perhaps

you could give me some more information.

Where is he going?

- Not very far.

To the Old House.

- To the Old House? Why is he going there?

- To think, to make a decision.

When he comes back,

he will have made that decision.

He will have decided that you and I are to be man and wife.

♪♪

- Stokes, what are you doing there?

- Mr. Collins. - Answer my question!

- What are you doing there?

- Just checking up to make sure everything is all right.

- Who told you to do that?

- Nobody. I did it on my own.

- Where is he? - What?

- Where is he? Where is Barnabas?

- Mr. Barnabas?

- Where is he hiding?

- You know where he is, Mr. Collins.

He is dead and buried in the mausoleum.

- He is somewhere in this house.

- He wouldn't be here. He's dead.

- I thought he was, but I may be mistaken.

- How can you say that?

You saw him. You saw him in his coffin.

- I'm not going to argue with you, Stokes.

I know he is somewhere in this house

and you know it, too.

- I don't know nothing.

- And why were you going down into the basement?

- I told you just to make sure everything is all right.

- You're lying! - No, I'm not.

- He is hiding in there, isn't he? - No.

- I'll find out myself. - You can't go down there.

- You can't stop me. - I have to stop you.

- The sun is about to set.

- What does that mean?

- Nothing. But you can't go down there.

- Now, listen to me, Stokes.

I could have you returned to prison

for the rest of your life.

- You know that, don't you? - Aye.

- Then stop interfering and get out of here.

- Mr. Collins-- - I said get out of here!

- All right.

- A coffin.

[gasps]

Barnabas.

Barnabas.

♪♪

[eerie theme music] ♪♪