Probably no one's life has been more shrouded in myth and legend than that of Josette duPres Collins. Born in the late 1700's to Andre duPres, it is likely she was born in France, but moved to French Martinique. It was there she grew up, raised by her father and Aunt Natalie.
Luckily, Andre did quite well for himself in Martinique, becoming the owner of one of the largest sugar plantations on the island. This allowed Josette and her family to live in luxury, including hiring servants. Josette, naïve of differences in social position, became close friends with her aunt's personal maid, Angelique Bouchard. She always treated Angelique as her equal, not realizing that the differences in their stations were too striking to be ignored.
Josette grew into an attractive and charming young woman; her beauty and position must have attracted many suitors. But a dark and handsome man from America courted her, sending gifts of flowers and poetry. After a period, he finally won her heart. So when Barnabas Collins proposed to her, she accepted.
Arrangements were made to hold the wedding at the Collins' family estate. Josette, accompanied by her father, went to Paris (France would have been deeply into the Reign of Terror at point, so this was extremely foolish), then planned to continue on to America. Though their ship was delayed, she arrived at Collinwood in high spirits, excited to begin her new life with the man she loved.
But her joy was short-lived, for soon after their reunion, Barnabas collapsed from an unknown ailment that even the doctor was unable to identify or cure. Sitting vigil at his bedside, Josette became frightened for Barnabas' life. She was greatly relieved when he recovered as mysteriously as he had been stricken.
Then Josette herself became stricken, not physically, but emotionally. She found that she was inexplicably, yet totally in love with Barnabas' uncle Jeremiah. Guilty, but unable to control her emotions, the two of them began an affair they knew was wrong. Neither of them wanted to hurt Barnabas, but they were drawn to each other as if by magic. Little did they know how true this was, for Angelique, in love with Barnabas, had cast a love spell on Josette and Jeremiah to keep him for herself. The only clue were the odd pitchfork-shaped marks they found on their wrists.
But Natalie became aware of the affair, having witnessed the unnatural lovers together. Suspecting that witchcraft was responsible, Natalie urged Josette to marry Barnabas as soon as possible. Josette agreed, and the wedding was planned for that very evening. While preparing to go down for the wedding, Angelique appeared in her room with a gift for Josette: a flower corsage. Though at first Josette refused the gift, as it did not go with her dress, she finally accepted it to please her friend. Unaware that it had been laced with a special love potion, Josette soon fell under its influence. While Barnabas waited downstairs with the minister, she ran off with Jeremiah, and the two were married soon after. They were blissfully happy for a day, until the spell began to weaken. Then they knew they had to return to Collinwood to face their families.
Needless to say, Barnabas was not happy to hear his fiancée had wed his uncle. He challenged Jeremiah to a duel. Though Josette pleaded for them not to fight, she was forced to watch in horror as Barnabas shot her husband, mortally wounding him. Aware of her duty, she sat at Jeremiah's bedside until his death, then went into a proper mourning period.
But she had not seen the last of Jeremiah. Struck by a strange compulsion, she went to her husband's grave and called out his name. His hand rising from the grave sent her screaming into the night. Jeremiah's ghost haunted her briefly, but that was soon eclipsed by another shock. Angelique told her that she and Barnabas were to be married. Though she wished her friend well, the pain in her eyes couldn't have been more obvious. She still loved Barnabas, in spite of all that had happened.
It was soon after that that Barnabas came to see her. Aware that it was a breach of protocol for the two of them to be together, she tries to send him away, but he insisted on speaking to her. He warned her that her life was in danger; she had to leave Collinwood immediately. Trusting his word, he prepared to leave, despite her aunt's protests. But she would not be swayed, so Natalie and Josette left together.
They went to an inn in Boston, where Barnabas said he would join them later. But as the night wore on, a feeling of dread crept over Josette. Convincing Natalie they had to return to Collinwood, Josette rushed to the Old House where she found Barnabas on the edge of death. Governess Phyllis Wick had been arrested as a witch; Josette went to her to plead for Barnabas' life. But she had gone to the wrong person. She had no way of knowing that it was Angelique who was responsible, and the she was already working to save him. But despite everyone's best efforts, he slipped away, a promise to return to Josette on his lips.
Devastated by the death of the man she loved, Josette and her family prepared to leave Collinwood. But a strange dream prompted her to go to the Collins' mausoleum at the Eagle Hill Cemetery. There she was overjoyed to find Barnabas was still alive. But oddly, he told her she had to leave and never she him again. She couldn't understand why they couldn't be together, but in bitter disappointment she returned to Collinwood. Her sorrow was such that she couldn't even properly congratulate Millicent Collins on her engagement to Nathan Forbes.
But her love for Barnabas was strong, and she knew that she would never be able to leave. So when he returned to her room to say good-bye, she convinced him that their destinies were intertwined. In his embrace, she fell victim to his vampiric urges, and became completely under his spell.
The next morning, Josette appeared weak and ill to the rest of the house. Though only she and Barnabas knew the truth. Deciding Josette's condition was too serious to leave, the duPres family planned on remaining at Collinwood until she should recover. They couldn't know that she never would.
Josette soon felt Barnabas' call again. She quickly went the Old House, knowing that she and Barnabas would be together forever. But she became haunted by a strange voice that revealed to her the truth of her lover's return. Horrified, she fled from Barnabas into the woods. He chased after her, but she ran blindly on. At the top of Widow's Hill, he saw a vision of what she would become if she joined Barnabas as one of the undead. When Barnabas appeared, she took the only method of escape she could. Josette leaped from the cliff, dying on the rocks below.
Josette's story did not end with her death, however. Barnabas, in his grief at losing her, summoned her spirit back from the land of the dead. Appearing to him still in her wedding gown and veil, she begged to be allowed to rest. But her pleas went unheeded until she lifted her veil. Her face had been horribly disfigured by the fall. Barnabas realized he could not allow her to remain with him like that, and so granted her desire to return to the grave.
Almost a century later, Josette's soul returned to the world of the living as a woman named Kitty Soames, who would become Lady Hampshire. Kitty may have lived her entire life unaware of the reincarnation, but what actually happened to her is unknown. But it can be assumed that when Kitty's life ended, Josette returned to the spirit world.
Perhaps that small taste of life made Josette long for human contact again, for her ghost began to haunt the Old House on the Collins estate. She gained a reputation for protecting the Collins family from danger, though over the years many stories had been circulated about her, some true, some romantic fiction. Even her maiden name was sometimes given incorrectly. (Perhaps it was Joshua Collins who began some of these tales, in an effort to keep the truth of his son's curse from being discovered.) Josette's ghost did indeed remain at the Old House, always detectable by the scent of jasmine.
In 1966, young David Collins came to Collinwood. The boy enjoyed playing in the now-abandoned Old House, and Josette took a liking to the boy. According to David, he was friends with the ghost, and Josette did seem to watch over him.
But a new arrival at Collinwood also needed her protection. The innocent governess Victoria Winters had been kidnapped by the insane Matthew Morgan, and held prisoner in a secret room at the Old House. Josette appeared to Vicki as she was held captive and told her not to be afraid. She then led the ghosts of Collinwood against Matthew, scaring him to death and ending the threat to Vicki.
Soon, a greater danger came to Collinwood. David's mother, Laura Murdoch Collins, had return to take David away with her. Only Josette knew that Laura was an immortal phoenix who came every 100 years to try to take her children up in flames with her. (She may have found this out from her husband Jeremiah, as Laura had been his first wife.) The spirit tried to warn the residents of Collinwood in any way she could. She compelled Sam Evans to paint pictures of Laura surrounded by flames. She caused David to have terrifying dreams about his mother. She even led Vicki to Eagle Hill Cemetery to find the graves of Laura Murdoch Stockbridge and Laura Murdoch Radcliffe, Laura Collins' previous incarnations. But no one understood the message she was trying to send. Josette even tried confronting Laura directly, but the phoenix's power was too strong.
Only when Dr. Peter Guthrie arrived on the scene did Josette have a knowledgeable ally against Laura. He quickly realized that Josette was trying to tell them something, and conducted a séance. Josette was then able to speak through Vicki. But Laura interfered, causing the spirit to feel as if she were on fire. She was unable to say more than a few words in French before retreating.
Still, she did not give up. She continued to give Dr. Guthrie clues about Laura, including raising the lid on Laura Stockbridge's coffin so he could see it was empty. She also sent David to find him when he fell prey to Laura's power, knowing she couldn't affect anyone in direct contact with her child. Unfortunately, she was powerless to stop Laura from killing Peter Guthrie a short while later.
Her last hope of saving David Collins from a fiery death was Victoria Winters. She led Vicki to the old fishing shack where Laura had lured her son. The resourceful Miss Winters was able to convince David not to go into the flames with his mother, and the boy was saved.
Later that same year, Barnabas was released from the chained coffin in which he had been imprisoned. Josette must have had mixed feelings about this, for though she still loved him, she knew that the vampire would be a threat to the family. She probably decided to distance herself from the situation, for she only made one half-hearted attempt to warn them of the danger. Possessing Vicki during yet another séance, she kept her message deliberately vague.
Josette's history, already convoluted by time, changed when Victoria Winters exchanged places with Phyllis Wick in 1795. But though Vicki was aware of Josette's tragic history, her fate was still sealed. Only minor details of her life changed, and she still leapt from Widow's Hill.
But Josette still loved Barnabas, for when he was cured of being a vampire, it was her spirit who gave Julia Hoffman the clues she needed to find her old love when the ghost of Reverend Trask walled him up in the basement of the Old House.
The change was more dramatic when Barnabas traveled to the year 1897 and met her Kitty Soames incarnation. Being back at Collinwood and meeting Barnabas triggered Josette's latent memories. Slowly, Kitty became Josette once more, ready to marry the man she loved. But when Josette's spirit replaced that of Kitty permanently, her displacement in time became unstable. She was drawn back to 1795, the memories of Kitty Soames completely erased.
But Barnabas had followed her back in time, determined to keep her from dying again. So when she came to the top of Widow's Hill, it was not Barnabas who came to her there, but her aunt Natalie. The Countess talked Josette away from the edge and they returned to Collinwood. Josette then talked to Barnabas, who convinced her that he would never harm her. They agreed to meet later that night to run away together. She waited all night for him, but he never appeared. Believing he had deserted her, she took poison, dying once more.
It was not until almost two centuries later that she discovered the truth. Barnabas had been kidnapped and brainwashed by the evil Leviathan cult, who sent him back to his own time to do their bidding. Though he had overcome their control, they still had power over him by telling him that they held Josette hostage. Her ghost appeared to Barnabas one final time to tell him of her suicide, and free him to fight the Leviathans.
She also had to free him from their relationship. With her beauty restored since she did not fall from the cliff, Josette never wanted to be used against him again. She calmly told Barnabas that they needed to let go of each other forever. She even returned his engagement ring to him. Though upset, Barnabas agreed. With her final tie to the world of the living severed, Josette duPres Collins was able to rest in peace for eternity.
