A sudden guilty feeling came over Geoffrey as he raised it shoulder-high. He felt half inclined to defy his uncle Ralph and take the consequences. It seemed a mean advantage, a paltry gratifying of what, after all, might be mere curiosity. But the vivid recollection of those strained, sightless eyes rose before him. Ralph Ravenspur was not the man to possess the petty vice of irrepressible curiosity. Had it not been a woman he had to deal with, and Marion at that, Geoffrey would not have hesitated for a moment. Down below in the hall he heard the hollow rasp of Ralph's voice. Geoffrey made up his mind grimly. He seemed to stumble forward, and the box fell from his shoulder, crashing down on the stone floor. The force of the shock simply shivered it in pieces, a great nest of grass and feathers dropped out, and from the inside a large mass of strange objects appeared. [Illustration: The force of the shock simply shivered it in pieces, and from inside a large mass of strange objects appeared.--Page 78.] "I am very sorry," Geoffrey stammered after the box had fallen. "Never mind," she said, "accidents will happen." But Geoffrey was rapt in the contemplation of what he saw before him--some score or more of ivory discs, each of which contained some painting; many of them appeared to be portraits. Geoffrey picked up one of them and examined it curiously. He was regarding an ivory circle with a dark face upon it, the face of a beautiful fury. "Why, this is you," Geoffrey cried. "If you could only give way to a furious passion, it is you to the life." "I had forgotten that," Marion gasped. "Of course, it is not me. See how old and stained the ivory is; hundreds of years old, it must be. Don't ask any more questions, but go and throw that thing in the sea. Never speak of the subject again." Geoffrey promised. He strode out of the house and along the terrace. As he was descending the steps, a hand touched his arm. Ralph stood there. "Give it me," he said, "at once." "Give you what, uncle?" "That ivory thing you have in your pocket. I felt certain it was there. Give it to me. Assume you have cast it over the cliffs. Marion will be satisfied." "But I promised Marion that----" "Oh, I know. And if you knew everything, you would not hesitate for a moment to comply with my request." "Uncle, I cannot do this thing." A hard expression came over Ralph's face. "Listen," he said in his rasping voice. "The lives and happiness of us all are at stake. The very existence of the woman you love is in your hands." "I have schemed for this," he said. "I expected it. And now you are going to balk me. It is not as if I did not know what you possess." "That is because you must have overheard my conversation with Marion." "I admit it," Ralph said coolly. "I listened, of course. But you found it and I heard what I expected. It is for you to say whether the truth comes out or not." "The truth, the truth," Geoffrey cried passionately. "It must out."