Ralph nodded approval. Five minutes later and the head of the house, seated over a book in the library, was exceedingly astonished to see Ralph and Geoffrey, followed by Tchigorsky, enter the room. He swept a keen glance over their faces; he saw at once they had news of grave import for him. "I do not understand," he said. "Dr. Tchigorsky, I am amazed. I was under the impression that you were dead and buried." "Other people shared the same opinion, sir," Tchigorsky said coolly. "The great misfortune of another man was my golden opportunity. It was necessary for certain people to regard me as dead--your enemies particularly. But perhaps I had better explain." "It would be as well," Ravenspur murmured. Tchigorsky proceeded to clear the mystery of Voski's death. He had to tell the whole story, beginning at Lassa and going on to the end. Ravenspur listened with the air of a man who dreams. To a man used all his life to the quiet life of an English shire it seemed impossible to believe that such things could be. And why should these people persecute him; why should they come here? What did those men mean by drowning themselves in the vaults? "They came here at the instigation of Mrs. May," Tchigorsky said. "But I don't see how that lady comes to be in it at all." "You will in a minute," said Tchigorsky grimly. "You will when I tell you that Mrs. May and Princess Zara are one and the same person." Ravenspur gasped. The bare idea of having such a woman under his roof filled him with horror. Even yet he could not understand his danger. "But why does she come?" he demanded. "For revenge on you two?" "Oh, no. My being here was a mere coincidence. Of course, the princess would have removed me sooner or later. Ralph, strange to say, she does not recognize at all, possibly because he has disguised himself with such simple cleverness. Princess Zara came here to destroy your family." "In the name of Heaven, why?" "Partly for revenge, partly for money. I told you all about her husband, who was an English officer. I told you why she had married him. When she discovered the papers she wanted, then she killed him and returned to her own people, giving out that she and her husband had perished up country in a fearful cholera epidemic. She wanted money. Why not kill off her husband's family one by one so that finally the estates should come to her? Mr. Ravenspur, surely you have guessed who was the English officer Princess Zara married?" Ravenspur staggered back as before a heavy blow. The illuminating flash almost stunned him. He fell gasping into a chair. "My son, Jasper," he said hoarsely. "That fiend is his widow." "And Marion's mother," Ralph croaked. Geoffrey was almost as much astonished as his grandfather. He wondered why he had not seen all this before. Once explained, the problem was ridiculously simple. Ravenspur covered his face with his hands. "Marion must not know," he said. "It would kill her."