"Dearly—very dearly, Mr. Laurence. We were brought up together."
"Then I may depend on your discretion; and if you wish to save her memory you must exercise it in her behalf. There is a small iron-clamped black trunk amongst her boxes, which must not fall into Colonel Damer's hands. Will you have that box conveyed from her chamber to your own, and (if you will so far trust my honour) make it over to me?"
"To you, Mr. Laurence—the iron-bound box? What possible knowledge can you have of my cousin's secret?"
"Her secret?"
"Yes—she confided that box to my care the night she died. She made me promise to do (without question) what you have just asked me to perform, and I did it. The trunk is already here."
And throwing open a cupboard at the side of the room, she showed him the chest which he had mentioned.
"I see that it is," he answered. "How do you design disposing of it?"
"She wished it to be buried in her grave."
"That is impossible in its present state. The contents must be removed."
"But how?" Mrs. Clayton demanded, in surprise. "It is locked and double locked, and there is no key."