For an instant Geoffrey was too dazed and stunned to speak.
"Marion?" he gasped presently. "Marion?"
Marion cowered down, sobbing bitterly.
"You are surprised," she said. "No wonder. You wonder what I am doing here and I will tell you presently. But not now; I will place my secret in your hands; I will disguise nothing from you. For the present leave me."
"Leave you here! Impossible!"
"But I am safe, quite safe, Geoffrey. Oh, if you have any feeling for one of the most miserable creatures in the world, leave me. Tell them above that those abandoned wretches have gone, that no sign of them remains. Consider what I have suffered and am suffering for your family, and try to help me."
Conscious of his own weakness, Geoffrey pondered. He might be doing a serious injury to the delicate plans formed by Ralph Ravenspur, but he had given the promise and there was an end of the matter.
Marion was in some way bound up with these people, but Marion was pure as the angels and Marion would do no wrong. Why, then, should her good name be dragged in the mire?
"You are so good, so good to me," Marion murmured. "Go before they become alarmed at your silence and leave me here. Say that you saw nothing. And when the house is quiet I shall make my way back again."