1228 - March 10, 1971

[bunniefuu]

[tense flute music]

NARRATOR:For those who dwell in the great house,

no secret is buried beyond recall.

More than a century ago Brutus Collins

k*lled a young girl and buried her

in the cellar of a cottage on the estate.

Now the spirit of her brother James Forsythe,

possessing the body of Morgan Collins,

has found her bones and vows revenge on the family.

A short time ago another girl d*ed and now

her brother Kendrick seeks to find the k*ller.

[anxious flute music, knocking]

KENDRICK: Well, Mrs. Collins,

I'm glad to see you are finally at home.

You're wasting your time Mr. Young,

I have nothing to tell you.

Who k*lled my sister, Mrs. Collins?

You know who did it.

You know who she was acquainted with

and you know who had reason to k*ll her.

FLORA: We know of no one

who had any reason to k*ll Stella.

Well, then perhaps there was no reason.

Perhaps it was a mindless, senseless act after all.

It was not Gabriel.

Someone did it, Mrs. Collins, who, who did it?

- I don't know. - All right then,

tell me where it happened first and then how.

No, I can't tell you anything.

Mama.

You better tell him.

I tried but I couldn't so you tell him.

Please.

[dramatic trumpet tone]

[waves crashing]

[eerie high pitched music]

Melanie, what are you talking about?

Mama will tell you everything.

- What is it? - I'm sure I don't know.

But you do know Mrs. Collins, you can't pretend anymore.

I demand an answer now.

Mr. Young, you have seen the att*cks that Melanie

is subject to, she is also prone to hysteria.

That is not true, I'm quite myself now.

Mama, you know what I'm taking about so tell him.

Please, for me.

Darling, there is nothing to tell and I'm

sure Mr. Young is distressed to see you so overwrought.

Tell him, he must hear it!

Hear what Melanie, hear what?

MELANIE: That I k*lled Stella.

Don't listen to her Mr. Young,

she doesn't know what she's saying.

I'm sorry, I'm so terribly sorry.

How did it happen?

I don't know.

It was an accident, wasn't it?

Melanie, go to the study and wait for me.

No, I've got to find out now.

Melanie, did you hear me?

I said go to the study.

[weeping]

Mr. Young, what do you expect to learn

from a girl who imagined everything she just told you?

One thing is real Mrs. Collins, my sister was k*lled.

FLORA: But surely you don't

believe that Melanie k*lled her?

What made Melanie say it then?

Who knows what makes the troubled mind act as it does.

How many disturbed people have

confessed to crimes they didn't commit?

It's quite common I believe.

Why did she confess to this crime then, why?

FLORA: I would say that your recent

attentions have a lot to do with it.

You frighten Melanie so this is her way of--

Of what, getting rid of me?

No, I won't take the blame or your explanation.

Where was Melanie when Stella was k*lled?

Mrs. Collins, please answer me.

I'm afraid I can't

because I don't know precisely when

your sister was k*lled or why or by whom.

You mean you have no proof of anything,

one way or the other.

There are some things people know without

having proof and I know that Melanie is innocent

and I suggest that you take your questioning elsewhere.

Good-bye.

Mrs. Collins, I can't be left like this.

I said good-bye, Mr. Young.

[anxious violin, trumpet tones]

[weeping]

Oh darling hush, hush, don't cry.

MELANIE: He's gone, he's gone forever.

He wasn't right for you.

Yes he was, I know it could never have worked out

because of his sister but I had to tell him

the truth even if it meant losing him.

It's not the truth Melanie, you couldn't have k*lled her.

No I couldn't have but she could have,

that demon inside me, she could have and she did.

Why don't you turn me over to the police?

Now Melanie, listen to me.

If Kendrick brings the police back here,

you're going to deny everything you said and so am I.

Do you hear me?

You're going to deny it.

They'll think he's the one that's mad.

Instead of me,

so that once again the Collins family will win.

Darling it's not a question of the family, it's you.

It's you I'm trying to save.

Am I worth saving?

I don't think so.

[anxious piano tones]

May I talk to you?

BRAMWELL: Certainly.

Bramwell, when I asked you to take me away you said no.

You said that I could either stay here

and be your wife or I could leave by myself.

That was the choice you gave me.

Well Bramwell, I've decided what I'm going to do.

I see,

and what is that?

I'm going to stay, oh Bramwell.

I was so lonely even for just the hour that

I was by myself, I know I could never live without you.

You won't have to.

I know that but Bramwell,

we can make this marriage work, I know we can.

We can be happy together,

we can be happier than anyone else could make each of us.

I must go upstairs, if you'll excuse me.

Bramwell, things will be different from now on.

Let's go out tonight, just the two of us and...

Bramwell, did you hear me?

No you didn't, did you?

You didn't hear a word I said.

[anxious flute tone]

[eerie rattling, rustling]

[relaxed flute music]

KENDRICK: Melanie.

Kendrick, have you come with the police?

Who said anything about the police?

Mama.

Melanie, I would never do anything

like that even if I thought you were guilty.

Kendrick, I am guilty.

I know I am.

Mama says I imagine things but I don't, I know I don't.

I know I k*lled Stella and you,

you've seen that person I become, you know it too.

No, you didn't k*ll her.

Maybe when you first confessed I believed

that you did but I thought about it.

Melanie, you could not have k*lled her

no matter what state you were in.

But that other person inside me--

She could not have done it either.

Melanie, I saw you become that other person.

She was tormented, tortured but she couldn't k*ll.

She had no v*olence in her.

Kendrick, that's not true.

The first night Catherine stayed in this house,

I was found at her bedside with a Kn*fe in my hand, a Kn*fe!

But you didn't use it.

Only because Julia stopped me in time.

There was nobody there to stop me when I k*lled Stella.

Melanie, stop torturing yourself!

You didn't k*ll her, I know it!

Kendrick, Kendrick you can't see me as I am because,

because you think you're in love with me.

I don't think I love you, I do love you.

Melanie, you and I are destined for each other.

In time the truth will come about what happened to Stella.

- I've told you the truth. - Forget what you told me.

What about my att*cks, do we forget them, too?

No, the truth will come out about them, too.

Oh, Kendrick, if you came here looking

for truth, you came to the wrong place.

I came here

to find you,

to love you

and to marry you.

To marry me?

KENDRICK: As quickly as possible.

Kendrick,

I don't know.

Melanie, you do love me don't you?

You know I do.

Then say you'll marry me.

Melanie, we will have a good life together.

I promise you that, believe me Melanie it's true.

Don't be afraid.

I am afraid.

That's the truth, too.

I am so terribly afraid.

[tense violin, flute tones]

How is Morgan?

Morgan, isn't it strange how we keep

calling him that even after what's happened.

It's not Morgan, James Forsythe went into that

terrible room that night and took Morgan's body for his own.

He is Morgan, we must continue to think that.

Do you?

Do you really believe that that man up there in that

room staring down at us, hating us because we're Collinses,

that stranger is my husband or your son?

Not as he is.

I don't know how to bring my son back except to wait.

Wait, wait for what?

I don't know.

And how much longer must we wait?

I don't know that either.

You know I used to believe that the worst thing

in the world would be waiting for someone you loved,

someone you loved to die.

But this is worse.

Death comes, this has no end.

FLORA: Would you rather Morgan had d*ed

in that room or gone mad like the others?

- No. - Well, then no matter

how long it takes,

wait and be patient, accept what is.

Accept?

Accept a stranger who hates us all?

FLORA: He may hate but thus far he has harmed no one.

No one but Morgan and why didn't Morgan accept?

Why did he have to go in that room and take my place?

Because he loved you, remember that.

Remember that he sacrificed himself for you.

You don't have to remind me of what I owe Morgan.

That's why I can't just accept it, I have to do something.

Catherine,

when my husband was the way he was,

I swore that I would help

but I couldn't.

There was no help this side of the grave,

only hope.

You Collinses.

You Collinses, I can never understand you.

You Collinses?

Don't forget you're a Collins now.

Forget it, oh, no I won't forget it.

Wherever Morgan's soul is now, whatever limbo

it may be in and however long it may be there,

no, I'll never forget

that I am his wife.

[anxious flute, trumpet tones]

Bramwell?

You look tired, you should be in bed.

DAPHNE: No I...

It's late.

DAPHNE: Yes, it's too late to go visiting.

I'm not going visiting.

DAPHNE: Well where are you going then?

To the Village on business.

DAPHNE: At this hour everything's closed.

Not the taverns on the waterfront.

There may be a man there who

may know something about my ship.

Couldn't he wait until morning?

No he can't.

Sorry, it just frightens me to

think of you on the waterfront at this hour.

Daphne, I'm capable of taking care of myself.

Please wait until morning.

BRAMWELL: By morning he may be gone, I must go now.

Well then can I come with you?

Daphne of course you can't.

You can't cling to me every minute of the day and night.

Now that isn't what a marriage is.

I don't mean to cling Bramwell but I hate to be alone.

BRAMWELL: I'll be back as soon as I can.

Bramwell, hurry then.

I'll wait for you.

[weeping]

[sharp knocking]

Bramwell, you're up very late.

Well, I couldn't sleep,

I was passing by and I hoped somebody might be up.

May I come in?

Of course.

Something particular disturbing you?

Yes I was concerned about Morgan.

Morgan.

BRAMWELL: Has his condition changed?

No it hasn't.

BRAMWELL: Well I'm sorry to hear that.

Are you?

You know Bramwell,

your concern for Morgan doesn't ring true.

Nor does your story about passing by.

Well what's happened to Morgan is a terrible thing.

I'm certainly capable of some compassion, Flora.

Your compassion, Bramwell, is not for Morgan.

It's for his wife, for Catherine and I will not have that.

No matter what I have to do,

that is something I will not have.

[anxious flute tone]

Well, I can't deny that I'm concerned about Catherine too.

After all, we are old friends.

You were friends,

you were much more than friends but no more.

You are married to Daphne and

Catherine is married to my son.

Thank you for your concern about Morgan.

In the future, please stay away from here.

Let us each take care of our own.

I assure you Flora--

You will never assure me no matter what you say, Bramwell.

Now leave us alone, leave Catherine alone.

That's all she is to you, just your son's wife.

Well she's become a Collins possession now.

As far as you're concerned, you can tell her what to do.

You have the right to tell her what to do and how to act.

I think if you're honest

Bramwell, you will admit that Collins or no Collins,

there is only one way she can act.

BRAMWELL: And what way is that?

She married Morgan for better or worse,

in sickness or in health.

But you can't expect her to go

through life in that unbearable situation.

Do you think my life was bearable?

I never forgot that I was Justin's wife

and what about Morgan?

Is his situation less suffering?

Collinses always come back to themselves, don't they?

What they feel and what they suffer,

that's all that's important to you.

FLORA: Go home, Bramwell, where you belong.

Go home to your wife who's waiting for you.

I wish it could be that easy for me to turn my back on you.

To let you destroy yourselves the way you deserve.

But I can't do that because

you're gonna destroy Catherine, too.

You're gonna destroy Catherine and my...

FLORA: And your what, Bramwell?

It's late, I think you better get some rest.

Goodnight Flora.

[tense violin tones]

Stay away from us, Bramwell.

Please stay away.

[relaxed flute, violin music]

Oh.

I'm sorry if I frightened you.

Oh, no, it's all right.

I didn't expect anyone to be out this late.

Well, I couldn't sleep and I decided to walk.

Oh, why should I lie to you, I didn't decide just to walk.

I've been everywhere tonight looking

for you, hoping I would find you.

I won't lie either,

I remembered your habit of walking late at night.

I hoped that I'd see you.

Our lives have become nothing but lies, haven't they?

Oh, no, I don't want you to misunderstand me.

I wanted to see you because you're,

well you were my truest friend.

I am much more than that to you.

Yes I know, but it is a friend that I need now.

Please.

I need one desperately.

I'm so concerned about Morgan.

Morgan?

Now be honest a little longer, Morgan means nothing to you.

He does, he does because I am his wife.

Because you are stubborn and willful.

I don't wanna talk about the past.

Shall we talk about the future?

You can't spend the rest of your life

with a man who is hopelessly possessed.

He went into that room to save me,

that's why I have to stay.

That's why I have to stay here and help

him even if it takes the rest of my life.

You are remarkably generous with the rest

of your life considering it belongs to me.

Every minute you breath is mine

just as every breath I take is yours.

No.

BRAMWELL: Yes, there is no Morgan, there never was.

Other people are only shadows that we've

frightened each other with, hurt each other with.

That's true, isn't it?

Morgan did it for me.

He went into that room to save me.

We are the only ones, you and I.

Bramwell.

It is only you that I love and always will be.

There can never be anything else.

[ominous violin, trumpet music]

[eerie high pitched music]