269 - July 6, 1967

[bunniefuu]

[narrating] - My name is Victoria Winters.

Death walks among us,

calling upon those he has chosen,

and they follow him...

for there is no alternative.

He chooses his meeting places well

and arranges the time with great care.

But there are those who seek him out

and ask escape from the burden that life imposes.

[wind whistling]

[knocking]

- Mrs. Stoddard?

Mrs. Stoddard?

♪♪

[wind whistling]

♪♪

[women] - Elizabeth...

Elizabeth...

[women calling] Elizabeth...

♪♪

♪♪

[announcer] - The part of Burke Devlin is being played by Anthony George.

[wind whistling]

♪♪

[Victoria] - Mrs. Stoddard!

Mrs. Stoddard...

- Vicki, go away!

- Stop, please!

- Vicki, leave me alone.

- What are you doing?

- I said leave me alone now!

- You're standing too near the edge.

Please come away from there.

- It doesn't matter where I'm standing.

Nothing matters!

- Please, Mrs. Stoddard...

- Go back to the house.

- Come with me. - I'll come later.

- Please...

- Mrs. Stoddard-- - Let go of me!

- Not until you come away from there.

- Let go of me, I said!

- Please, don't struggle or we'll both go over!

You're doing the wrong thing.

- I spent my life doing the wrong thing.

This is the only thing left to do.

Leave me alone.

- Please come back to the house.

- I can't.

I can't ever.

- Why not?

- Because there's nothing left for me.

I have to go through with this.

- No, you don't.

There must be another way out.

- What other way is there?

I've thought this over very carefully.

Do you think I'd go this far

if there was some alternative?

- If you just give it a little more time,

I'm sure you'll find another way.

- There isn't any more time.

Tomorrow I'm marrying Jason McGuire.

I betrayed the Collins family,

my daughter

and what's worse, I betrayed myself.

- No, Mrs. Stoddard.

You haven't betrayed anyone.

On the contrary, you've acted with great courage.

You've been carrying a terrible secret for years

and you've never shown any weakness, until now.

- I...

I haven't the strength to fight anymore.

- Yes, you have!

- But there's nothing to fight for.

It's one thing to recognize hopelessness,

but it's another to admit it.

I've admitted it.

And there's nothing left to do.

- There will always be hope as long as you're alive.

- There's more to it than that.

You forget...

I k*lled my husband.

I deserve to be punished for that.

- Mrs. Stoddard, you've sat in judgment for yourself

for much too long.

You-- you've sentenced yourself.

You've imprisoned yourself.

And now you want to be your own executioner.

Please, Mrs. Stoddard!

I beg of you, tell the others about

your husband and let them judge you.

I know that they won't be as hard on you

as you've been on yourself.

- It wouldn't make any difference.

I've ruined Carolyn.

To tell her what I did to her father

would destroy her completely.

- Think a minute, Mrs. Stoddard.

If you were to die now, what would happen?

Jason McGuire would go completely free

and Carolyn, what would happen to her?

How do you think she'd feel

knowing that you k*lled yourself because of her?

Wouldn't she blame herself?

And-- and wouldn't she carry that guilt with her

for the rest of her life?

Mrs. Stoddard, your death would destroy Carolyn.

If you went over that edge, it would be the same thing

as taking her with you!

Mrs. Stoddard...

where there's life, there's always a hope.

♪♪

♪♪

- I said goodbye to this place a little while ago.

I never thought I'd see it again.

- You'll always be in this house, Mrs. Stoddard.

It wouldn't exist without you.

Why don't you go upstairs and get some rest?

- No.

There are things to be discussed.

I've got to know where to turn

and what to do next.

- Why don't you let me tell Carolyn

why you're marrying Jason?

- She wouldn't understand.

- I'll make her understand.

- No.

It would only make her hate me more.

If she's to be told,

it has to be another time.

- But you'll be married by then.

- It seems that's the only thing left for me to do.

- Couldn't you put it off for a little longer?

- No.

I've delayed as long as I can.

Jason won't wait.

- Or will he?

Mrs. Stoddard, it seems to me that

it would be much more to his advantage to marry you than--

than to go to the sheriff

and tell him what happened years ago.

- I can't afford to call his bluff.

- I wish there was something I could do to help you.

- No.

You have helped me.

You've made me want to live again.

There's...

there's just one other thing I have to ask of you.

- What is it?

- Please never talk about what nearly happened out there.

- It really isn't a very good idea

to talk about things that nearly happened, is it?

- Thank you, Vicki.

Will you--

- There is another thing, though.

There's a date in the family Bible

that was put in in error.

I think it should be erased.

- Will you do that for me?

- Gladly. - Thank you.

- Oh, Liz, I've been looking all over for you,

but you weren't in the house.

- I was out.

- We went for a walk.

- Oh, how nice.

The bride and her bridesmaid.

Excuse me, Liz, I'd like to speak to you for a minute.

- Not now.

- Well, it will only take a minute.

Will you excuse us, Vicki?

- I want Vicki to stay.

- Oh, you do?

- Mrs. Stoddard isn't feeling well.

- I see.

Well now, are you her doctor?

- I want to see to it that she isn't upset.

- Well, that's very thoughtful of you, Vicki.

But it's very easy to diagnose what's wrong with her.

She's just a nervous bride.

- I don't find your humor particularly fitting.

- Well, then perhaps...

you'll find this more fitting.

♪♪

- What is it?

- Well, open it and find out.

It's the best I could do on such short notice.

Shall we put it on and see how it looks?

Why, Liz... what's the matter?

- I won't put that ring on!

♪♪

- Why, Liz, I bought this ring for you.

- I am not putting it on.

- Vicki, I'm afraid I'll have to insist that you go.

Mrs. Stoddard and I have something

very important to talk about.

- Mrs. Stoddard wants me to stay.

- It's all right, Vicki.

I can deal with this now.

- Are you sure?

- Surer now than ever.

You can go, it's all right.

- All right.

- Have you told that girl anything?

- I only tell people what I think they ought to know.

- You have become very adept recently

at giving very vague answers.

- At last, we have something in common.

- What is all this about not putting the ring on?

- At the ceremony, for the sake of the others,

I will permit you to put that ring on my finger,

but not before.

- Well, I see that our marriage may be, um...

tempestuous and stormy

but it'll never be boring.

- Nor will it ever be a real marriage!

♪♪

- I have your report here on Jason McGuire.

Yes.

Yes, it's exactly what I wanted.

That's good.

Keep sending anything-- anything else you can dig up.

Right.

Okay.

Bye.

- Hello, Burke. - Hello, Vicki.

- I came as quickly as I could.

- I'm sorry to have asked you to come on such short notice.

- That's all right.

But I have to get back soon because of the marriage,

the wedding.

- What I have to say may affect the wedding.

- What is it?

- Vicki, I know how upset you've been.

I know what this wedding is doing to everyone,

so I took it upon myself to do something.

I've had some investigators on it.

- What did you find out?

- Jason McGuire has an international reputation.

- What? - Oh, he's never been in jail,

but he's been so close to it

that I almost admire him for his agility.

I have reports here from Hong Kong,

Rio, Marseille, you name it.

- What's he done?

- He's been accused of smuggling...

swindling... extortion.

But they've never had enough proof to prosecute him.

- With a reputation like that,

why wasn't he at least detained?

- Because of insufficient evidence.

Because he frequently skipped the country

and without evidence they couldn't extradite him.

- What does all this mean?

- It means that he's wanted in several places.

They feel that if they can question him again,

they might be able to break through his alibis.

- But can he rearrested?

- Arrested, no.

But the minute he sets foot in any of these countries,

he'll be picked up.

- What does that have to do with the wedding?

- I want to submit this information to Liz Stoddard.

I'm sure that when she knows it, she'll call it off.

- I'm afraid it's too late.

- But there's a chance.

Surely there's a chance.

- Yes, there is a chance.

♪♪

- I'm really not in the mood to see Burke.

- Please talk to him for just a few minutes.

- What does he want?

- He wants to do something for you.

- Hello, Burke. - Hello, Liz.

- I only have a few minutes.

- You may have more time than that.

- What do you mean?

- I won't go into a discussion on your

motives for marrying Jason McGuire.

All I wanna do is make you aware of the kind of man he is.

- I know what kind of man he is.

- Do you know the things he's done?

- I know all I need to know.

- I've had some investigators checking him out.

They came up with this.

- What is that?

- A report on the ill*gal activities

he's been involved in.

- ill*gal? - Smuggling, stealing.

Read it yourself.

- No.

- Please look at it, Liz.

- No. - Why not?

- Are you submitting proof of a crime to me?

- I'm submitting proof to you

of a man who has such a lack of decency and honesty

that the true crime would be his marriage to you.

- How dare you say that to me?!

- I didn't say it to insult you, Liz.

I said it because I honestly believe

you're being forced into a marriage.

- You have no right to make such an assumption.

- Please, Mrs. Stoddard, Burke is trying to help.

- He would help me by forgetting about me

and about Jason McGuire.

- Forget about Jason McGuire?

Impossible.

Well...

Now, just what is it about me that's supposed to be forgotten?

- He came to... wish me well.

- Oh, well now, that's very thoughtful of him.

- I came here hoping to talk her out of marrying you.

- Please, Burke.

- Well... did he succeed?

- No.

- Well now, Mr. Devlin.

It seems that you failed at something, haven't you?

- So far I have.

- Oh, I see, you intend to continue with the action?

- I'm afraid I don't have any ammunition left.

- Well now, what sort of ammunition are you using?

- Your character.

- Ah, well, you see now, that's your mistake.

Because she's marrying me because of my character.

- I'm inclined to agree with that.

- Well, tell me, Mr. Devlin,

just what aspect of my character are you attacking?

- This aspect.

- And what is that?

- Shall I read it aloud?

[chuckling]

- Ah, now...

Isn't that interesting?

- That was all the information I was able to come up with

on short notice.

I'm sure I haven't even scratched the surface.

- I can explain all of this, you know.

- I was certain you could.

- Liz...

does any of this really bother you?

- No.

- There you are, Mr. Devlin.

I think you'd better have this back.

It must have cost you a pretty penny.

Have it encased in plastic or something.

It's very artistic.

Oh, and as long as you're here,

I may as well invite you to the wedding tomorrow.

It will be a very nice ceremony.

Perhaps you...

among others might care to shed a tear or two?

Good night, my darling.

♪♪

♪♪

[announcer] - "Dark Shadows" is a Dan Curtis production.