278 - July 19, 1967

[bunniefuu]

[Victoria narrating] - An invitation has come to Collinwood,

an invitation to enter the past.

A party at which the clothes worn by the guests

will belong to another time

as well as to another identity.

Where, for a few candlelit hours,

an evening long dead will live again.

But the past, like the future, can hold its uncertainties.

And no one can prophesy

where this journey out of time will lead.

One can only follow the strange and melancholy man

who will be its guide.

- I made a very simple request.

I don't know why you should hesitate.

- Because the clothes in that trunk will never be used.

- Willie, I'm in far too fine a frame of mind

to listen to you.

- I know you're thinking you can persuade Mrs. Stoddard

and Miss Winters to come to a costume party,

but I told you, they won't do it.

- I'm aware of your pessimism, Willie,

but I intend to ignore it.

- They'll laugh at you when you ask them,

and then you'll get angry.

- You're so certain that they'll refuse.

- They'll never accept.

- How fortune for me that you are merely my servant

and not my adviser.

- What do you mean?

- I asked my cousins and Miss Winters last night

to attend the party here at this place.

- You asked them?

- Yes. And they accepted.

- They didn't laugh at ya?

- No, on the contrary.

Now, will you please bring down the trunk to Josette's room?

I'll be waiting for you there.

♪♪

[creepy music plays]

♪♪

- Thank you.

And now open it, please.

[lid creaks]

- This the one?

- Yes, this is the one.

- And your cousins are actually gonna wear these old clothes?

- Old? They look the same now

as they did when they were first worn,

as though no time had passed at all.

- Just doesn't seem like the kinda thing

Mrs. Stoddard or Mr. Collins would do.

- Well, the Collins family have always been responsive

to anything imaginative.

And besides, I believe I had more than one advocate.

- Advocate?

- Someone to state my case.

- Who was that?

- Well, my cousin Roger for one and Miss Winters.

- Miss Winters?

- She was enchanted with the idea,

the way her eyes brightened when I suggested it.

- She helped persuade the others to go along with the whole idea?

- Of course, and I intend to show my gratitude.

- How? - You already know.

- I think you should stay away from her.

- It would be rude of me not to invite her to the party.

My cousins accept her as one of the family.

Why shouldn't I?

- 'Cause that's not what you're really doing.

- Oh? And what am I really doing?

- You know as well as I do. You said so yourself.

- Well, if we both know it, why this need to discuss it?

- She never hurt anybody, and nobody should hurt her.

- I agree. - Hey, you know that isn't true.

- I intend to create an exquisite

and entertaining evening for her.

How could that possibly harm her?

- There's more to it than that.

She's coming as Josette, isn't she?

- Of course. It seems a logical choice.

And I thought that you might appreciate that.

- Does it have to be Vicki?

- Now, Willie, I must warn you

that you're beginning to irritate me.

I don't want to hear any more of this.

Is that understood?

- Yes. - Good.

Now I have to make a call on my cousin Elizabeth.

- Barnabas, wait. - What is it?

- It's dangerous, don't do it.

- I thought the discussion was closed.

- I'm not talking about Vicki now.

I'm talking about the whole party,

all those people coming here,

giving them the idea they can start coming around

any time they feel like it.

Now, you know that's not what you want.

- That can be handled in due time.

- Don't do it, Barnabas. Don't have the party.

- Not have the party,

when all my plans are going so nicely?

Now, please, that's out of the question.

And please, no more thinly veiled arguments

about Miss Winters.

Now, you told me that I could expect complete cooperation from you.

Please don't make me alter that expectation.

It may lead you into a great deal of trouble.

♪♪

- If you have no plans this evening for Miss Winters, Elizabeth,

and if she would herself consent,

perhaps she would come over

and help select the clothes for the party.

- I'd love to.

- Well, actually, Victoria's completely free this evening.

- Then you'll come. - Of course.

I love going through trunks of old clothes.

And I think I pretty well know everybody's size.

- Well, in that case, I'd be extremely grateful for your help.

- Barnabas? - Yes?

- I know I've accepted your invitation.

- And that pleased me very much.

- I'm glad to hear that, but, uh...

- What is it?

- Well, I'm, uh, I'm not so sure now that I can come.

- Mrs. Stoddard. - Yes, I know I said I would.

But do we have to come in those clothes you found?

- But that's the whole idea behind the party.

Mr. Collins has restored the house

to its original condition.

- I know. - And when we wear the dresses

that they actually wore in those days,

well, it'll be just like an evening out of the past.

- Yes. - I have seen the clothes

and I can assure you they're in excellent repair.

Why, they-- they look exactly as they did

when they were first worn.

- How would you know that?

- Well, I mean, they seem to be as fine now

as they must have been then.

[Elizabeth] - Well, that bothers me even more.

- What bothers you?

- Wearing those clothes,

coming as actual people out of the past.

- But that's the fun of it. - [sighs]

I guess you're right.

But... - What is it?

- Well, I'm not superstitious, believe me.

- You think that perhaps our ancestors

would resent our masquerading in their clothes?

- No, but I-- I feel there's something wrong

in getting that close to the past.

- If you'll allow me to say it, Elizabeth,

perhaps you are a bit superstitious.

- Well, I'm not. I never used to be.

Maybe it's just because I've lived so close

to the family past all my life.

As a Collins, I'm sure our ancestors must sometimes

be as real to you as the people living in the present.

- Yes, perhaps. - They...

- Sometimes. - They have so much reality for me as it is.

They seem so close even now.

I'm not sure I want to do anything

to bring them any closer.

- But that doesn't sound like you at all, Mrs. Stoddard.

- I know, because I've never felt this way before.

But... I do now.

- But surely you're not afraid.

- Maybe I am.

Couldn't we come as we are?

- Well, if the idea of costumes frightens you.

- But I don't understand why you should be afraid of this.

- Neither do I.

- And there's nothing I can say to lessen your fears?

- You might forgive my foolishness.

- No forgiveness is necessary.

If it's your wish, we can dispense with the costumes.

- Then I guess I won't be able

to wear one of those lovely dresses

that belonged to Josette.

- You looked forward to it a great deal, didn't you?

- Yes, I guess I did.

- Well, perhaps there will be another occasion.

- I hope so.

- You were really looking forward to the costumes

as much as the party itself, weren't you, Vicki?

- It's all right.

As Mr. Collins said, perhaps there will be another time.

- No, it needn't be another time.

Just because I have a few ridiculous feelings

is no reason to give in to them.

And I have no right to spoil everybody else's pleasure.

- You're a very generous woman, Elizabeth.

- A moment ago, I was a very foolish one.

- Then I will be Josette after all.

- That really pleases you, doesn't it?

- Very, very much.

♪♪

♪♪

[Barnabas] - I had Willie put the trunk in here.

- This was her room.

- Yes.

- I wonder if she was as lovely as this room.

What's the matter?

- Nothing.

Merely an odd sensation when we entered the room.

- As though someone were in here.

- Perhaps Elizabeth's anxieties have infected us both.

- But I know what you mean. I feel it, too.

- Nonsense. Now, here is the trunk.

And here are the clothes.

- Oh.

It's exquisite.

Who did it belong to?

- You have only to look at the portrait to know.

- Yes. It's hers.

It was Josette's. - Apparently.

Do you like it?

It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

It would be a perfect fit.

- Then you must wear it.

- No. I couldn't.

I'd be afraid to.

It's much too fine and elegant.

- All the more reason for it to be yours.

- You're the most gallant man I ever met.

Sometimes-- sometimes I think you belong

to a completely different time than ours.

- Oh?

- More to her time.

Perhaps that's why this house suits you so perfectly.

- Given the choice, which time would you prefer?

Hers or ours?

- I don't know.

But I think if I could wear dresses like this all the time,

I'd be very happy and very vain.

I think this one would do very well for Carolyn.

Who would she be if she wore it?

Oh, wait. There's a monogram in here.

"MC."

- Well, she'd be Millicent Collins, I imagine.

- Oh, she'll like that.

I wonder if Roger could wear this.

I'm not sure.

- No, that isn't the right one.

Roger's to come as Joshua, remember?

- And you don't think this belonged to Joshua?

- From the portraits I've seen,

I can tell that belongs to Jeremiah Collins.

- Oh. Jeremiah Collins.

Josette's husband.

- Now, I'm sure we'll find something of Joshua's for Roger.

Yes.

- Look. A little girl's dress.

- Where did you get that?

- Here in the trunk. Whose do you think it was?

- Well, I'm not certain.

But there was a child,

a little girl,

a daughter of Naomi and Joshua Collins.

- Well then, she would have been the little sister

of the first Barnabas Collins whose portrait is in the foyer.

- Yes, the little sister of Barnabas Collins.

- Do you know anything about her?

- She died very young, they say.

- I'm sorry.

- They say she was a lovely child.

They say her brother loved her very much.

- You sound as though you knew her.

- Well... Elizabeth was right.

For members of the Collins family,

sometimes the ancestors are a bit too real.

- I can understand that.

- Can you? - Yes.

I think if I knew who my ancestors were,

I'd want to learn everything I could about them.

And then I'd love them or hate them

as though they were real people.

- Would you?

- Maybe not.

If I knew who they were,

maybe I'd feel free to forget about them.

I don't know.

- You miss family identity, don't you?

- Sometimes.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like.

- You'll find out soon enough.

- What do you mean?

- If you become Josette,

you'll take on her whole character.

Her very lineage will be yours.

- Become Josette?

- Why, yes.

The evening of the party.

- Oh, yes.

But I seriously doubt that wearing her dress

and being in her house

will be the same thing as being her.

Although I must say I like the idea.

- You do?

- Well... Anyway, for the evening.

- Yes.

For the evening.

♪♪

- Mr. Collins said that Willie would bring the costumes over in the morning.

But I couldn't bear to part with mine.

Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?

- It's lovely.

- And wait till you see the one you're gonna wear,

Naomi's dress.

Oh, why can't we dress like this all the time?

- I think we'd tire of it very quickly.

- Never.

- You seem to share my cousin's love of the past.

- He has the most extraordinary knowledge

of the Collins family history.

- Oh, yes.

It's something of an avocation with him.

- You know something? - What?

- It's almost as though he belongs

to a completely different time from ours.

When he talks about the past,

it's as though it's something he's remembering,

not something he learned.

- Vicki, I've become superstitious.

You've become incurably romantic.

- [chuckles] Maybe.

But just the same.

I wonder if...

that isn't why he always seems a little bit sad,

a little bit lost.

Because he-- he is lost in the present.

He really does come from another time.

He'll never find it

because it's gone forever.

[music box plays]

♪♪

[knocking on door]

[Willie] - Barnabas?

[music box continues playing]

[music stops]

[knocking on door]

[Willie] - Barnabas?

- Yes, come in.

- I saw Leigh with the dress.

- In the morning, you are to take the clothes on that bed to Collinwood.

You can take the trunk up to the attic after the party.

- Where did this come from?

- From the trunk.

- This was in the trunk with all those old clothes?

- Yes, why do you ask?

- But this was the kind of dress...

Oh, it couldn't have been.

- What are you mumbling about?

- Nothing. - Yes, you were.

What was it? Something about that dress.

- Well, remember that little girl I told you about

who was playing outside the house?

- Yes, what about her?

- She was wearing a dress almost exactly like this one.

- What? - That's what it looked like.

- That's ridiculous.

This-- this dress was worn by a--

by a little girl a long, long time ago.

- Well, I don't think I'm wrong.

- Well, obviously you are.

Now come.

I have things for you to do

other than to make preposterous statements.

- She had long hair-- - I am not interested.

Now come.

- My dress!

My blue dress!

I found my blue dress!

[creepy music plays]

♪♪

♪♪

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