Daphne Harridge played by: (fifan81) Born in 1818, Daphne Harridge was the reincarnation of a witch, Arianne Palmer, who lived during the eighteenth century. She was born in Bangor, Maine to parents Jonathan and Martha Harridge. She had one sister, Joanna Mills, whose father, Hyrum Mills, was killed in a boating accident a few months after Joanna was born. Another sister, Catherine Mills, who was the first child of Hyrum and Martha, died only a few days after she was born. Throughout her childhood, Daphne wanted to be just like Joanna. This was partly because she admired her, but also because she wanted the admiration of her mother. Her mother loved her, but it had always been obvious to Daphne that Joanna was her favorite of the two girls.

When she was seventeen, her father died of typhoid fever while on a business trip to South America. Daphne was devastated when she heard the news because she had loved her father very much. Since Joanna had already left home, Daphne was left to support herself and her mother, so she got a job at the local library.

When she was twenty, her mother died of pneumonia. A year later, she heard that her sister had been committed to a mental institution near Collinsport. Since she had no other family, she moved to Collinsport to be near her sister, and got a job at the newspaper office. She had the opportunity to visit Joanna only once. On that visit, Joanna seemed to be getting better. She told Daphne all about Quentin Collins and how much they loved each other.

About a week after her visit, Joanna escaped from the institution. She was later found dead at the bottom of Widow’s Hill. The authorities concluded that her death had been a suicide. Daphne blamed Quentin for Joanna’s suicide, and determined that she would avenge her sister’s death.

In the woods on the Collins estate, on her way to leave Quentin a note, she ran into Barnabas and Desmond Collins. Desmond, who found her very attractive, wanted to get to know her better. It was when she came to his house to have dinner, that she first met Quentin Collins.

He was so impressed with her that when his son’s governess was killed, he hired her as a replacement. Despite Julia Collins’ warning that if she accepted the position she would die, she took the job. With every intention of killing Quentin, she moved into Collinwood and waited for just the right moment to make her move.

But fate had other plans for the two of them. Quentin’s wife, Samantha, was jealous of Daphne from the moment she first saw her. She began leaving notes to Daphne in Joanna’s handwriting, causing her to believe that Joanna had come back from the grave to kill her. But her plan backfired and her notes only brought Daphne and Quentin together.

Soon afterward, Quentin was arrested and put on trial for practicing witchcraft. Daphne knew that he had done nothing wrong and became suspicious of Gerard Styles. For some reason unknown to her, she was afraid of him. She did not know at first that he had been possessed by the spirit of Judah Zachary. She did not recognize him, for she had no memory of her past life as Arianne, not even after she learned the truth about him.

Gerard, however, did remember Arianne and he recognized Daphne as another incarnation of her. He remembered how he had felt toward her, and wanted her all to himself. By controlling her dreams through witchcraft, he tried to make her fall in love with him and forget about Quentin. He succeeded in his objectives toward Daphne, but only temporarily. She agreed to marry him, but afterward the spell broke and she realized what she had done.

The next day, Quentin was to be publicly beheaded for being a warlock. At the beheading Valerie (Miranda), after finding Judah’s head, showed it to everyone and identified Gerard as the one who had been possessed. Desmond shot Gerard and killed him. The head turned into a skull, proving Quentin’s innocence. He was immediately released, and later that day he and Daphne left for Boston to get Quentin’s son, Tad, and, since Samantha had been killed a few weeks earlier, to get married.

Later that year (1841), the three of them traveled to Europe. When they returned, Quentin took his place as the rightful heir to the Collins’ fortune. Together, Daphne and Quentin had two children, twins, a boy and a girl.

Their happiness did not last long, however. Supernatural forces began again to plague the family. Though the exact date and cause of Daphne’s death are unknown, it is believed that these mysterious forces were to blame.

It is because of the circumstances surrounding her death that her spirit can not rest. She has appeared to several of the current residents of Collinwood. The reason for her appearance is still a mystery, but it appears as though she is trying to warn them of something….or someone…who could be a serious threat to all those at Collinwood.

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