When the coffin had been emptied, the earl produced a pocketbook containing a list of the treasures.
"'Article 1,'" he read out. "'Ancient Norse funereal urn, of pure gold, set with opals.'"
The viscount handed a vase to his father.
"Safe, I see," said the earl. "I have been unjust to you in thought, Ivar," he continued, apologetically. "When your wife spoke of a golden vase given her by you, my thoughts associated themselves with this. I acknowledge my error."
Ivar cast an anxious look at Lorelie, dreading lest her words should lead to the betrayal of his secret. But Lorelie said nothing, though in a state of extreme amazement and perplexity: for the jewelled vessel now in the earl's hands seemed to be the very vase given to her by Ivar some weeks previously—the vase that had played so important a part in her hypnotic experiment with Beatrice.
On coming to Ravenhall Lorelie had left it behind her at The Cedars: how came it to be here in the vault of the Ravengars? Was it a replica? If so, it was certainly a marvellous imitation of the original, since she could detect no points of difference.
"Observe the lustre of the opals," said the earl, his eyes gleaming with pleasure; and Lorelie perceived that his love of study, great though it might be, had not quenched in him the passion of avarice. "An interesting and precious relic of Norse antiquity, this!" continued the earl, tapping the urn affectionately. "It contains the ashes of Draco the Golden, the founder of our family. From the grey dust within this urn all we Ravengars have sprung."
The vase at The Cedars also held the remains of the same Viking, if the story told by Beatrice in her hypnotic trance was to be relied upon. The supposition that the ashes of Orm had been divided between two urns seemed absurd: and yet how otherwise was this mystery to be explained, unless indeed Ivar, unknown to her, had paid a visit to The Cedars, and having obtained the vase, had restored it to the place whence he had originally taken it. Unlikely as this last hypothesis might be, it seemed the only one capable of meeting the requirements of the case.
The earl, having carefully deposited the urn in one corner of the coffin, referred again to his catalogue.
"'Article 2. Norse altar-ring of pure silver, inscribed with runic characters.' Yes, this is it," he continued, receiving the article from Ivar's hand. "The ring of Odin, that figures in our armorial shield. Many a legend of blood clings to this relic. What a history it could unfold, were it but endowed with speech!"