345 - October 20, 1967

[bunniefuu]

[Victoria narrating] - The night at Collinwood is deceptively quiet and calm.

Our thoughts take wing and fly in many directions.

At the old house, on the Collinwood estate,

there is one who dreams of taking a bride one day soon

and recapturing all the glory of the past;

while at the great house, we think only of the future

and pray for the safe return of one who has left us.

- Mrs. Stoddard! Mrs. Stoddard!

- What on earth is the matter?

- Oh, it's terrible!

- Is something wrong with David?

- No, he's fine. It's Mr. Devlin.

- Mr. Devlin? What are you talking about?

- I just heard a report on the radio.

They said Mr. Devlin's plane went down

over the Amazon.

- What?

- In the middle of the jungle, they said.

- Well, how do you know it's the plane Mr. Devlin was on?

- Because I heard Vicki mentioned the name of that airline.

It had a funny sounding name. I'd never heard it before.

- Are you sure about this? - I'm positive.

The minute I heard the report, my blood went cold.

I knew. I just knew.

- You knew nothing.

- But -- Mr. Devlin was on that airline

going to South America.

- Now, stop all this talk.

You heard that a plane was down.

A plane.

And whether Mr. Devlin was on it or not

is something I'm going to find out right now.

Now listen to me, where is Vicki?

- She's upstairs in her room.

- You're not to say a word about this to her

or to anybody

until I find out whether it's true or not.

♪♪

[eerie music] ♪♪

What do you mean you won't have a confirmed list until --

well, when will that be?

[sighs] Yes, I'll wait.

- What do they say?

- They won't have an accurate copy of the passenger list

until they hear from the terminal in --

in then, in -- that place in Brazil.

Belem.

What?

Well yes, I can understand that there's a great deal

of confusion there,

but there's also a great deal of anxiety here.

Will you phone me the minute you know?

Yes, thank you.

They don't know anything yet.

It was a local flight out of -- out of Belem.

The passenger list was made up there.

- That's terrible, terrible.

- Now, when we know the truth, we'll face it.

Until then, we'll remain calm and quiet.

♪♪

- Just what are you doing?

- Just finishing up a few notes and observations.

- I'm afraid, Doctor, that in your mind,

you tend to exaggerate the audience

who will see your notes.

- They're for my own use.

To help me, to help us.

- It's such a dreary night out,

no moon, no sign of life outside.

I find the evenings increasingly tedious of late.

- Is there something you'd like to do?

- What do you have in mind, Doctor,

a game of cards or cribbage?

- If you'd like.

- No, I long for something else.

The day when Vicki Winters becomes Josette.

Then, when my lady is here with me in this room,

the evenings will be filled with perfume and sweetness,

and not with the tedium that fills it now.

- I'm sorry you find time going so slowly.

- You just go back to your notes, Doctor.

The sooner you finish what you want,

the sooner I will have what I want.

Is that not correct?

- Well, no.

It's not correct.

- What do you mean?

- I told you that you would be in a less vulnerable

position to Vicki Winters,

and as far as the world is concerned,

but I didn't promise that you'd get Vicki.

- You do your part, Doctor, and I will do mine.

- Barnabas, you talk constantly of the time

when Vicki Winters is going to be here.

How do you plan to get her here?

- When that time comes, it will be very soon.

My dear Josette will come to me quite willingly.

- You really believe that?

- Is there any reason why I shouldn't?

- Yes, as a matter of fact, there is.

For one thing, Vicki is not in the least interested in you

and you know that.

She is interested in Burke Devlin.

- Perhaps, I should point out to you, Doctor,

that when the young lady is ready to return

my special interests,

she will no longer be Vicki Winters.

She will be, for all intents and purposes, Josette.

- Do you think that's a reason for her to come here?

- Well, I think it is a very good reason.

- I don't.

- Why not?

- Tell me, did Josette ever come to you willingly?

Then why is Josette so important to you,

when you were never very important to her?

- You are filled with questions tonight,

aren't you, Doctor?

- I don't mean to pry.

- Of course, you don't.

- I just don't want you to build your life on a --

on a self-deception.

- A self-deception, you call it?

Oh, you do amuse me,

you and your modern scientific words,

you and your cold clinical thinking.

- My thinking is neither cold nor clinical,

believe me.

- And your curiosity amuses me, too, as well.

You are so curious to know everything.

Whatever I tell you, it isn't enough and it's always Josette.

Always curious about Josette.

As if she were, shall we say, a rival of yours?

- That isn't true.

It's -- it's -- it's nonsense.

- Very well, we shall see.

Get your coat.

I will tell you all there is to know about Josette.

- Where are we going?

- I must take you to the right place

to tell you about Josette,

the place where Josette died.

Come, Doctor.

It's a perfect night for it --

cold, dark, a moonless, starless night,

a night, perhaps, when ghosts can walk.

And who knows, even reach out

and touch those people they still love.

♪♪

- Mrs. Stoddard.

- Vicki, what are you doing down here in your coat?

- I thought I'd go out for a walk.

- Do you think you should? It's such a dark night.

- Well, I wasn't planning to go very far,

- just outside the door really. - Oh.

- The truth is, I couldn't sleep.

I had so many things going on in my head,

so many plans to make and things to tell Burke.

Is that the floor plan of the west wing?

- Yes. I was just going to put it away.

- Could I look at it? - Yes, of course.

- I'm not very good at reading these things.

Burke could look at this and he'd know exactly where

we were going to eat our breakfast

and spend our evenings and wake up in the morning.

He is so wonderful.

I miss him so much already.

I guess that's why I -- I wanted to go outside.

I -- I thought maybe if I went out and looked at the sky,

it would make me feel closer to him.

- It's not a very good night for looking at the sky.

There are no stars out.

- Burke told me once that, in the old days,

when they used to steer their ships by the stars,

they used to dread a night like this

because they couldn't see where they were going.

He said that when a ship went out on a night like this

- she was -- - doing the Widow's Dance.

- Yes.

That's what Burke said.

I suppose I must sound very silly saying this

to people who have lived here all of their lives.

- No, Vicki dear, you don't sound silly.

- It's just that I want to belong here so much.

I don't think that I can ever thank you enough

for offering us the west wing to live in.

It's the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me.

It makes me so happy.

Mrs. Stoddard, is something wrong?

- Wrong?

[phone ringing] No, Vicki.

- Shall I get that? - No, please, it's for me.

- I'll get it.

Hello?

Yes, this is Mrs. Stoddard.

What have you heard?

Oh, I see.

There is no question about it?

All right.

Thank you.

- Mrs. Stoddard?

What's the matter? Have you had bad news?

- Is it true?

- What is it?

Who were you talking to?

- I -- I was talking to an airline official.

- Airline?

Has something happened to Burke?

Please tell me.

Please tell me what happened!

- They just had a copy of the list of passengers

on the plane that Burke was on, and it was confirmed

the one that crashed in the Amazon jungle.

- I don't believe it.

I don't believe it.

It can't be true.

- I'm sorry, Vicki.

I'm afraid it is.

- I don't believe it.

- Oh --

- She'd be better off lying downstairs --

upstairs in her room.

- I'll help you get her up.

- No, no, I can manage.

On my bureau, you'll -- you'll find a --

a small bottle of pink pills.

She'd be better if she could take one of those.

- Yes, I'll get them.

Oh, there isn't even Dr. Woodard

to call on any more.

- Come on, Vicki.

I'll -- I'll help you up to your room.

♪♪

- Mrs. Stoddard, you ought to go to bed, too.

It's awful late.

- I'm going to stay up a little while longer.

- Do you mind if I stay up with you? - No.

- Vicki is asleep, all right.

I'd looked in on her a while ago.

- Oh, that poor child.

She was so happy.

It just broke my heart to hear her talk about him

before we knew.

- It reminded me of my sister.

She lost her husband on a ship a long time ago.

It was like seeing her face all over again when I saw Vicki.

Would you like a cup of tea?

- No, thank you.

- It might take the chill off the night.

- It's all right. I don't mind.

- You really ought to go to bed, Mrs. Stoddard.

- The airline told me they'd call me if they heard anything.

- What else are they going to hear?

- Well, they sent out a search party.

They might sight something or someone.

- Maybe, it's right to keep the truth,

the whole truth from that girl upstairs,

but I think you and I better face it.

There is very little chance of Mr. Devlin still being alive.

- You shouldn't say that, Mrs. Johnson.

- Vicki, what are you doing down here?

- I'm going out for that walk. - No, you can't.

- Yes, I can.

I told you.

Outside, I feel closer to Burke.

Mrs. Johnson,

you may not think that Burke is going to come back alive,

but you don't know Burke.

He'll get out and he'll come back.

He will come back.

♪♪

[door opening, door closing]

- Josette was the gentlest and most beautiful woman

I have ever seen.

I still remember the first time I saw her.

It was a great cloudy day

and we had all gathered at my father's house

to welcome the new Collins bride.

I was not particularly anxious to be there.

I -- I had other things to do, more important things,

I thought, than to welcome my middle-aged uncle's new wife.

And then, I saw her,

and I was spellbound by her.

When she smiled at me, I loved her.

I vowed I would win her no matter how long it took.

But she was a good wife to him,

and as time went on, I grew desperate.

I had to have her, do you understand that?

- Yes, I do.

- She loved him.

What choice did I have but to be her good

and faithful friend, Barnabas.

I was humiliated by my position.

I had to live with it for a long time and then --

I knew suddenly how I could win her.

- How?

- She was a young when she married him

and he was middle-aged.

But as the years passed, she began to see

that she was married to an old man.

She felt as if life had been stolen from her.

She began to fear time

and I knew that only I could defeat time for her,

and then, she would be mine forever.

And she would have been --

if she hadn't been foolish and frightened.

Barnabas, what happened?

- It's such a dark, deep night out

and very cold, isn't it?

- Yes.

- Barnabas, when you talk about Josette,

you never seem more human.

I understand now how much you really love her.

- How much I loved her -- yes.

- But she is gone now

and you will be happier if you stop measuring her

against everybody you meet.

- I'll be happier?

What a quaint thought.

[brush rustling]

Someone is coming.

- It's Vicki.

- Vicki?

What are you doing out so late

and in such a lonely place?

- Hello, Barnabas, Julia.

- What's wrong, Vicki? You -- you look sad.

- We just had a report

that Burke's plane crashed in the jungle.

[gasps] - No.

- They haven't a sight of the plane

or any of the passengers.

I had to get out of that house.

I -- I just couldn't stay here.

Something brought me here.

I don't know what it was -- I --

I don't even understand what it was.

- Perhaps, you will someday.

- Barnabas --

- I know -- it's cold and --

and there's no reason for you to --

to suffer in the chill any longer.

You go back to the house

and I'll remain here with Vicki.

- But I really don't mind.

- The cold? Nonsense. You're just being polite.

You just said it was chilly

and you know how concerned I am

for your health, my dear.

♪♪

- When I came out here tonight, I -- I wanted to be alone.

But I'm glad you're here.

- It's my pleasure to be here for you, Vicki.

- It's so dark.

I wonder what it's like in Brazil.

Have you ever been there?

- No, I haven't.

- I wonder if the jungles are --

are noisy with animals or birds or --

or if they're very quiet.

- I don't know.

- Well, I'll have to ask Burke.

Yes, I'll ask Burke when he gets back.

- And then, you can tell me.

- Mrs. Johnson thinks that

he won't get out of there alive.

- Did she really say that?

- Yes, but she's wrong.

I know she's wrong because he'll come back.

Barnabas, you --

you think he'll come back alive too, don't you?

- My dear, I think that if it were me,

nothing in heaven and earth

would stop me from coming back to you.

- Then, then you think that he's alive, too?

- Of course.

- Thank you.

I -- I had to hear someone else say that

so I could go on believing it myself.

Before Burke went away,

he wanted me to set the date for our marriage,

but I wouldn't because I was so worried about --

- About cousin David?

- Yes.

And then, Mrs. Stoddard offered us the --

the west wing to live in.

I -- I thought it would be just perfect.

But Burke, with all his pride and independence,

well -- he wasn't sure that that's what he wanted to do.

So, he -- we never set the date and --

and he went away.

The west wing is the most beautiful part

of the house.

- But, it -- it's been closed for a long time.

Have you ever been in it?

- No, I haven't,

but I have heard enough about it to know.

Perhaps, we could look at it together some evening.

- No, if you don't mind, I --

I'd rather not go there until Burke is with me.

Can -- can you understand that?

- Of course, I can.

- Oh Barnabas,

you are a good, good friend.

- Well, I try to be,

to those who mean a great deal to me.

[whirring]

- Did you hear that?

- Yes.

- I -- I always thought that this was

just a place of legends,

that no real people ever came here with real grief

and that the women who threw themselves

down onto those rocks below,

they were just make believe creatures,

until tonight.

- What about tonight?

- Barnabas, if I thought that Burke

were really gone from me forever,

- I'd throw myself -- - Vicki, stop.

[whirring continues]

- Well, I -- - I don't want you to talk like that ever again.

- I'm sorry.

- You mustn't be that foolish, do you understand?

You must never be as foolish as --

- You're right.

I -- I couldn't do that.

Not -- not until I'm -- I'm really sure

that there is no hope left.

That is what you meant, isn't it?

- Vicki, no matter what anyone else says,

no matter how much they try to soften your loss

or comfort you,

I believe, deep in my heart,

that you will be a bride one day very soon.

- A bride very soon.

[whirring]

♪♪

[eerie music] ♪♪