Play@YSDC

Guests have arrived, after many a lengthy journey by coach, at the mansion on the Collinswood estate, to witness the upcoming nuptials of Barnabas Collins, heir to the Collins fishing and shipbuilding fortune, to Josette DuPres, recently arrived with her family from the island of Martinique.



In contrast to this happy event is the very peculiar presence of a young woman calling herself Victoria Winters, who showed up in shockingly revealing clothing. The explanation for this bizarre happening, or so it seems from her less than coherent statements, is a coach accident which caused a partial loss of memory and the tearing of her dress. In any event, she seems to be the governess expected to care for young Sarah Collins, the much younger sister of Barnabas.

Besides all the available members of the Collins and DuPres families, notable among the guests are Reverend Orville Trask and Lieutenant Nathan Forbes.

Millicent Collins will volunteer for the duty of caring for the stricken Miss Winters. She will ask Lt Forbes whether he thinks it likely that some malefactor was involved in the young lady's distress, and whether this party might still lurk nearby.

Vicki,Of course she would welcome reassurance that there is no such danger, but a more secret part of her is excited by the notion of being under the Lieutenant's protection.

Countess DuPres looks on with interest to see how the lady of the house deals with this ragamuffin girl in front of such a loud crowd. Hopefully it will be precipitous; Josette should be the one getting all the attention.

Victoria Winters smiles at Millicent. "Thank you for your help," she says.

"Curious," says Reverend Orville Trask, scratching his chin. "Most curious. I would like to examine the scene of the accident."

SunlessNick wrote:Millicent Collins will volunteer for the duty of caring for the stricken Miss Winters. She will ask Lt Forbes whether he thinks it likely that some malefactor was involved in the young lady's distress, and whether this party might still lurk nearby.

"No need to worry, my dear. I've spoken to the young lady -- charming, but not so much as present company, of course -- and there is no evidence of any highwayman involved.

"I believe all this excitement has rendered you a bit overheated. Shall we take a walk in the garden and enjoy the cool night air?"

aine wrote:Countess DuPres looks on with interest to see how the lady of the house deals with this ragamuffin girl in front of such a loud crowd. Hopefully it will be precipitous; Josette should be the one getting all the attention.

There being no obvious reason to doubt the veracity of Miss Winters' story, and Sarah Collins being in need of a governess, Naomi Collins (with the somewhat grudging approval of her husband, Joshua Collins) accepts her into the household, first supplying her with a proper set of clothing, and offering her a small room in the mansion, where she may store the very few possessions she had with her.

Mr. Handy wrote:
Victoria Winters smiles at Millicent. "Thank you for your help," she says.

It is apparent to all that Miss Winters remains somewhat disoriented, occasionally calling persons by an incorrect name, although this tendency quickly disappears once she settles into her new position. If nothing else, it seems that she is an experienced governess, and that young Sarah is quite fond of her.

Mr. Handy wrote:
"Curious," says Reverend Orville Trask, scratching his chin. "Most curious. I would like to examine the scene of the accident."

Investigation yields only the fact that a coach carrying a governess to Collinswood did, indeed, suffer a minor accident near its destination. There being, as far as can be told, no other passengers within the coach at the time, and the driver long since gone his way, there are no witnesses to the incident immediately available.

As the days go by, the arrangements for the wedding still underway, Miss Winters becomes accepted in her new position. During one of her lessons with Sarah, the child feels poorly for a moment, for unexplained reasons, but quickly recovers, with no apparent effects from the brief incident.

VictoriaSilverwolf wrote:"No need to worry, my dear. I've spoken to the young lady -- charming, but not so much as present company, of course -- and there is no evidence of any highwayman involved.

"I believe all this excitement has rendered you a bit overheated. Shall we take a walk in the garden and enjoy the cool night air?"

Millicent gladly accepts the offer.

Victoria is grateful for the welcome, and she enjoys teaching Sarah. In her free time, she peruses the books in the library hoping to find something that might help her with her predicament. She can't be the first person in history this has happened to, after all.

With no more evidence available, Reverend Trask resumes his preparations for the wedding, though he keeps his eyes open for anything suspicious.

To one with a more than usually prominent bump of curiosity upon the head -- and there are many such about, it seems -- it is an obvious fact that Millicent Collins and Nathan Forbes are oft seen together, even when the young lady is not formally chaperoned. It may be that the youthful naval officer is particularly solicitous of one of a delicate nature; just hearing of Sarah's brief and as yet unexplained illness has caused Millicent to feel, as vulgar seamen say, "under the weather," often coughing lightly into her handkerchief.

Mr. Handy wrote:
Victoria is grateful for the welcome, and she enjoys teaching Sarah. In her free time, she peruses the books in the library hoping to find something that might help her with her predicament. She can't be the first person in history this has happened to, after all.

Joshua Collins' collection of books proves to be extremely dry reading. With no taste for literature or abstract philosophy, his volumes consist entirely of works dealing with shipbuilding, merchanting, and such practical arts.

The servants are kept busy making ready for the wedding. Joshua Collins, known to be a harsh taskmaster, is particularly strict with a large, muscular fellow named Ben Stokes, who performs those labors requiring great strength. It is common knowledge that Stokes is a felon, allowed to work off his prison sentence as an indentured servant at Collinswood. Always of a taciturn nature, Stokes has been particularly slow of speech and surly lately, and is often nowhere to be found when wanted. If it were up to Joshua, the man would go back to prison; but since Barnabas is inexplicably fond of the fellow, even going so far as to teach him the arts of reading and writing, he has kept him employed, at least for the time being.

Mr. Handy wrote:
With no more evidence available, Reverend Trask resumes his preparations for the wedding, though he keeps his eyes open for anything suspicious.

At the present time, the only obvious sign of Satan's influence on the household is Countess DuPres's deck of fortunetelling cards, a wicked plaything she insists on keeping with her at all times, despite frequent warnings that such games come at the price of one's soul.

Millicent is charmingly embarrassed at her frailty, remarking to Victoria that she is the one supposed to have been caring for her. Should she hear any of the scandalous rumours about her time spent with Lt Forbes, she will flush and insist that he has behaved with naught but propriety.

Seeing that the books in the library are of little help, Victoria instead reads the Collins family history in her spare time. Having grown fond of Sarah, she is curious to see what will happen to her in the future.

Reverend Trask is sure to warn Countess DuPres often about the danger her soul is in from using Satan's tools of divination. "You would do well to burn them," he cautions her. "They give the devil a foothold in this house."