Subj: Gone With the Wyndcliffe -- 2
Date: 8/13/00 12:59:28 AM Central Daylight Time
From: DSRules

Following Barnabas' announcement that he and Josette had gotten married, there was a flurry of congratulations. Roger shook Barnabas's hand, urging David to follow his example. Liz and Carolyn both hugged Josette, giving her familial pecks on the cheek and wishing her happiness.

Julia merely looked at Barnabas. "Congratulations," she said. "Now you have everything you ever wanted."

"Yes, I do. Thank you, Julia." Barnabas responded, an intense expression in his hazel eyes.

"Say, Barnabas, isn't Josette the name of some relative or other?" Roger, never very proficient at family history, asked.

"Yes, Roger." Barnabas responded. "She was the wife of Jeremiah Collins. The uncle of the original Barnabas Collins."

"Ah. Quite the coincidence, eh?" Roger said.

"Yes. Well, my wife is a distant relative of the duPres family."

Barnabas, realizing that they were about to become embroiled in a discussion of genealogy, told David that Amy Jennings had arrived for dinner and was playing in the yard out in back of the house. David ran to join his friend.

Carolyn had overheard Barnabas sending David out to play with Amy. "Is Chris here already?"

"Why, yes he is." Barnabas responded. "He's in the library, catching up on some reading. I hadn't realized that the two of you had started seeing each other again."

Carolyn gave him a small smile. "Well, it only just happened." Then to herself, she added, "I wonder what he could be reading," before heading off in that direction.

Julia maneuvered herself to Barnabas's side, intending to discuss his recent marriage with him, but they were interrupted by the arrival of the Boston branch of the family.

A long period of socialization followed, with Roger and the father on the other side comparing their descent from the two wives of Edward Collins, the women all discussing the children of the family, and various other subjects of conversation. All the while, Julia tried to get Barnabas alone so that she could talk to him, without success. It seemed like he was avoiding her.

Throughout the conversation, and the drinks and hors d'oeuvres that followed, Julia kept catching glimpses of a very tall man with dark wavy hair. If she wasn't mistaken, he bore a striking resemblance to Quentin Collins.

Finally, she took Liz aside. "Liz, do you see that man over there?"

"Oh. That's Adam Collins."

"Not him. Him." She indicated where the stranger currently stood.

"That's Don Collins."

Julia shook her head in frustration. "Him! The tall one with those piercing blue eyes."

"Oh! I see him now." Liz shook her head. "I have no idea who he is. One of the Boston Collinses, I expect."

A member of the caterers' wait staff came into the room, then, calling them to dinner. As the crowd in the drawing room thinned out, Julia finally saw the stranger face to face.

"Good evening," Julia said regally.

"Good evening, Ma'am." He responded. The twinkle in his blue eyes made her knees go weak.

"I'm afraid that I don't know you?" She cursed herself for making it sound like a question.

"That's a situation we surely should rectify." He smiled at her. "Quentin Collins, at your service."

{He can't be! He could be . . .} Julia wondered as Amy came in, taking Quentin's hand.

"Hello, Quentin." The little girl said with a smile. "You want to sit next to me and David at dinner?"

He hunkered down next to her. "I would love that. Thank you for asking me." He gave the little girl a charming smile.

{Strange.} Julia thought. {Normally, Amy would have been terrified at the sight of someone who looks like Quentin . . .}

As they walked into the dining room, hand-in-hand, Amy said, "I asked David if it'd be all right for you to sit with us, and he said it'd be OK."

Julia followed Quentin and Amy into the dining room.