"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."