Episode 256, scene 5:

     Hannah is sitting in the livingroom of the mansion.

     Dialog between Hannah Cord and Martin Peyton:

MP:  Well, good morning, Hannah.  Huh, have you got it all figured out?
     A wise man once said decisions made at dark dissolve at pale 
     daylight.
HC:  I suppose you know Rodney's gone.  He packed his little suitcase and 
     ran away.
MP:  And that's why you're sitting here as if in morning.  Because you're 
     going to miss Rodney's smiling face around the house.
HC:  You can pretend it doesn't hurt you, but it does.
MP:  It hurts me.
HC:  Rodney doesn't respect you any more.  You'll never get him to come 
     back to you again.
MP:  We'll see.  You keep cackling on about Rodney.  Well, that's not the 
     real reason you're sitting here.
MP:  Why are you sitting here, Hannah?
HC:  Because I couldn't sleep.
MP:  And you won't pretend that your leaving the house yesterday 
     afternoon was sleep walking.  The house was noisy.  What with Rodney 
     coming home, banging doors.  I heard you leave.  Where did you go? 
HC:  I was restless.  I went for a walk.
MP:  Well, for a woman who's never been known to take a walk, I find that 
     rather amusing. 
HC:  I felt like walking.
MP:  Hannah, isn't it time you told me what you said to Ann Colby?  I'm 
     worried about her.  Yes, as astonishing as it may seem, I'm worried 
     about her.  And what she might do.  When she left this house, this 
     room, I could see how upset she was.  But more important, Hannah, I 
     could see how upset you were. 
HC:  Please, Martin, not now.
MP:  Did she accept you as her mother?
HC:  Yes.  Yes she accepted me.
MP:  Well, then, what happened?  Surely it was no problem for you to 
     handle a highly emotional young girl.
HC:  I handled it.
MP:  Then why are you so upset?  How did you explain your failure as a 
     mother?  Your decision to give up your child? 
HC:  I told her I hated her father.
MP:  And what reason did you give?
HC:  I had to justify it.  Why I deserted her.
MP:  What did you say?
HC:  I said that her father had been unfaithful to me, and that's why I 
     hated him. 
HC:  What else?
HC:  Nothing else.
MP:  Don't lie to me.
HC:  All right.  I said that he had been teaching art in a girl's school 
     and that she was one of his pupils. 
MP:  You didn't name anyone?  Hannah, tell me you didn't name anyone.
     You told her.  You couldn't resist telling her.  
HC:  Yes, I told her.  It was Catherine.  He had a cheap shoddy affair 
     with your precious Catherine.  And that's why I divorced him.
MP:  You couldn't let it alone.  Your hatred for Catherine made you name 
     her. 
HC:  Yes, it made me name Catherine. 
MP:  The whole point, all these years, was to protect Catherine's name. 
     Now, Ann Colby will go to Steven.  He will be able to fit the last 
     missing piece in the puzzle.  It will be all over for us. 
        [Peyton goes in the dining room and sits at the table.]
        [He picks up the Clarion and sees the headline.]
MP:  [Calling out]  Hannah.  [Louder]  Hannah.  
        [Hannah sees the newspaper headline: GIRL PLUNGES TO DEATH OFF BLUFF.
MP:  Did you tell me all of it?  You know where this happened?  At the 
     bluff.  
HC:  I see that.
HC:  Where the Webber boy was blinded.  Why there, do you suppose Hannah?  
     What drove her there?  When you left the house in the affernoon, 
     where did you go?  Where?  To see Ann Colby?  Where then? 
HC:  I told you, I went for a walk.
mp;  I don't believe you.  You didn't see Ann Colby after she left this 
     house?  
HC:  No.  No, I didn't.
MP:  And what else did you tell her while whe was here?  What else, 
     Hannah, to account for this?
HC:  Martin.
MP:  It wouldn't have taken much, Hannah.  You knew she was unstable, 
     suggestible.  Destroying the image of her father that she loved.  
     That could be enough. 
HC:  She left here believing me.  And that's what you wanted.
MP:  I didn't want her dead.  Why did you have to pour your sick hatred
     into the ears of a neurotic girl?
HC:  I had nothing to do with Ann's death.
MP:  How do you know?  How could you be so quick to absolve yourself of 
     all blame?
HC:  If you had guilts Martin, then you will have to bear them.  Now that 
     you have breathed your sigh of relief you can affort the luxury of a 
     few hypocritical tears. 
MP:  I didn't want her dead.
HC:  Do you wish her back to life again?  At the price of her learning 
     the whole truth?  And telling it?  No.  No, of course you wouldn't. 
     She's gone, Martin.  It happened.  Steven will mourn her for a while 
     and then he'll forget.  And he'll stop asking questions and  
     everything will be as it was before. 
MP:  What makes you so sure Ann won't go straight to Steven from here? 
     Everything may be as it was before, Hannah.  But what a terrible 
     cost. 
     [Peyton picks up the phone.  Thomas evidently lives over the garage.]
MP:  Thomas, bring the car around to the front door, at once.
        [End of scene and episode.]

Episode 256, scene 5                 HOME