" Madam , Madam , I beg of you- you mustn't do that !sx " Andrea implored her .sx " You must help me to go !sx To- to beguile a man I don't love in order to trap him- it's shameless , horrible !sx I will not do it !sx " " You will- because you must !sx " Madam told her inflexibly .sx And then , impatiently :sx " Heavens , girl , what a to-do !sx The man is presentable enough- and if you marry him , you will get what you want .sx You will be Mistress of Galleon House .sx What more do you want ?sx " " More- much more !sx " Andrea was hardly aware of what she was saying .sx " Love , I suppose ?sx " Madam asked resignedly .sx " It is the way with all young people , but it is an illusion- a mirage .sx You will do very well without it .sx Or who knows , you may fall in love with Simon .sx " " Never !sx " Andrea declared passionately .sx " Never !sx He has robbed me- " " And here is your chance to make him pay back !sx " Madam interrupted .sx " Now go away and think over what I have said , for it is the best advice that I or anyone else could give you .sx " She shut her eyes resolutely , and because Andrea knew that it was purposeless to stay , she went to her own room .sx As Madam's door closed , she opened her eyes and one thin hand picked nervously at the sheet .sx Had she been wise ?sx Ought she to have hinted at what she knew to be the truth- that Simon had fallen in love with the girl at first sight ?sx " No !sx " she said aloud .sx " I doubt if she would have believed it !sx And there is Simon to be considered .sx With his absurd chivalry , he will need a little encouragement .sx And when the child has thought it over , she will give it .sx It will all work out as Leo planned- " The tired eyes closed and Madam drifted into the brief , easy sleep of age .sx And Simon , sitting at Leo's desk in the tower room , what did he feel about it all ?sx As Andrea herself had done , he had taken it for granted that Leo would have left everything to her .sx His first reaction , when he heard that he was Leo's heir , was to refuse his inheritance .sx Not only was it grossly unfair to Andrea to do anything else , but , if he accepted it , he was also accepting banishment from his own country and the home he had known all his life .sx And yet- and yet- which was home ?sx That far-off , sun-filled house with its glorious views of pasture and distant mountains ?sx Or this grim , sturdy house that was practically a fortress ?sx From the moment of his arrival it had been as if he had known this place before .sx It was like coming home , and yet , before very long , he had been conscious of a feeling of unreality about it all .sx But that was not because of the House .sx It was the people who lived in it .sx He remembered having thought that they were fantastic , people left over from an earlier age who defied the passing of time .sx Leo , who should have been an adventurer .sx Madam , one of those rare , magnificent woman who , no matter what their age , have the ability to attract and hold the devotion and loyalty of men .sx And Andrea ?sx What was she ?sx A younger version of Madam ?sx In some ways , perhaps .sx As far as loyalty and courage were concerned , without doubt .sx But as yet unsure of herself , as Madam , he was convinced , had never been unsure .sx Andrea .sx It all came back to her .sx Whatever he decided to do must serve her best interests .sx That being so , on the face of it , it would seem that he must somehow pass his inheritance on to her .sx But there was more to it than that .sx Luke , for one thing .sx And for another , the secret of Galleon House which he believed he had all but solved .sx An odd word here and there , a look of amusement in Leo's eyes- the amusement of a man who has always enjoyed playing with fire .sx And , now and again , a sudden feeling of tension in the air .sx There were other things too , some so nebulous as to make them impossible to grasp , some insignificant in themselves , but adding up , surely , to give substance to an incredible conviction .sx Yes , convincing to himself but lacking actual proof .sx And that he was determined to have before he went to Madam and demanded the truth , as he fully intended doing .sx Already he knew that he would not find that proof among Leo's papers .sx Sitting in this quiet room with an unpleasant feeling of guilt , he had gone through every cupboard , every drawer , every file .sx All dealt with the normal business of the estate .sx And all were in apple-pie order .sx Leo had been a good man of business as well as- everything else .sx There was the safe too .sx That yielded up a certain amount of jewellery , though none of very great value , a list of Leo's investments , a statement showing at which bank they were deposited and various certificates and statements from the same bank .sx These last Simon went through carefully .sx For a good many years past Leo had been paying in large sums from time to time- twice or three times a year at the outside .sx One had been made very recently , and Simon recognised it as being approximately the amount that the diamond necklace and bracelet had fetched .sx Surely , all clear and above board !sx And yet he was not satisfied .sx But for days past he had had the growing conviction that there was one place where he would find the information he wanted .sx That story , which Leo had confirmed , about the Trevaine treasure buried beneath the House itself , had always fired his imagination .sx His grandfather had told him stories about it that , to his boyish mind , had held the very essence of romance .sx And though he had never mentioned the fact to Leo , he knew where the entry to the hidden chamber was .sx What was more , he himself had taken the key on its slender chain from around his dead cousin's neck and had worn it round his own neck ever since .sx No one had asked him about it , but he thought Madam knew where it was since he had made no secret of what he was doing with it and she had doubtless been told .sx Now he slipped it off and looked at it intently .sx It was a modern key , beautifully made and engraved with the name of a famous firm of safe-makers .sx That further confirmed his suspicions .sx His grandfather had spoken of a massive oak door , studded with steel bosses and strengthened with steel bars- strong enough , no doubt , in the days when it was put there , but evidently not strong enough to please Leo .sx Well , he would go and see what it was all about , for only when he knew the whole story could he decide- He went to his bedroom for an electric torch into which he had recently put a new battery and made his way to Leo's bedroom- a room which , in fact , he could claim for his own now if he wished since it was always used by the owner of the House .sx This , however , he had no desire to do , but at least the fact gave him the feeling that he was not trespassing .sx When one generation succeeded another over so many years as was the case here , some rooms , at least , acquired an almost impersonal quality .sx It was so here .sx Presumably Madam had given orders for the room to be entirely cleared of all of Leo's personal property .sx It was simply a bedroom , swept and garnished for its next occupant- himself .sx Like many of the other rooms in the House , this was panelled .sx By one side of the fireplace was a door which looked as if it might lead to another room .sx Simon knew better .sx Carefully locking the door through which he had just come , he opened the second door and flashed on his torch .sx At right angles to the door and in the thickness of the massive wall a flight of stone steps ran down and at the bottom was a heavy oak door- the one his grandfather had told him about .sx As he went down , he counted the steps and estimated that they must have brought him just about to ground level .sx It did not surprise him very much to find that the door opened on the latch , for it was so old and worn that it offered little security .sx Beyond it Simon found more steps which suddenly took a turn , so that he knew the old story was true ; the Trevaine treasure was buried right under the house itself .sx It did not surprise him to find that now , instead of the walls and steps being of stone , they were hewn out of solid rock , and then , at the bottom of the further flight , he found a new door .sx It was painted a dull grey , but as Simon laid his hand on it , he knew from the coldness of it that it was made of steel .sx He pursed his lips in a whistle as he flashed the torch over it .sx Set in the rock itself , it presented a formidable barrier- and it must have been no easy task getting it into place .sx All the same , it opened easily at the turn of Leo's key and Simon pushed it open .sx Eager though he was to get on with his discoveries , he examined the edge of the thick door and its interior carefully before letting go of it .sx He had no wish to take part in a latter-day Mistletoe Bough story !sx It looked safe enough to him to let go of the door , but just in case , he looked round for something to prop against it so that it could not shut , and then , for the first time , he realised that he was actually in the treasure chamber .sx Neatly ranged against the rock walls were all manner of chests and trunks .sx Some were comparatively modern , some , Simon thought , Captain Jeremy might well have brought home full of plunder .sx He found a good , solid metal one that was not too heavy to lift and set it between the door and its frame .sx Then he began his search .sx It would have been tempting to investigate the contents of the chests , but there was something else which intrigued Simon even more than they did .sx Sunk right into the rock so that only its door showed was a modern safe , and a glance showed that it had a combination lock .sx So , after all , he could not find out what he wanted to know without taking someone into his confidence , he thought wryly .sx Madam , presumably , would know the word that unlocked the safe , but the last thing he wanted to do was ask her for it .sx Well , at least he could have a shot- he did not know much about such locks , but he did know that you could tell the number of letters in the word by the number of dials .sx This was a six-letter word .sx Six letters- and it might be any word in the world !sx But it was worth while trying words which had some connection with Galleon House .sx Andrea- that had the right number of letters , but he quickly found it was not the right one .sx Galleon- no , seven .sx Trevaine , much too long .sx Well , how about- he looked about himself for inspiration- Jeremy- or pirate ?sx He tried each in turn without success .sx Feeling considerably discouraged , he tried other family names .sx Cherry , Leo's mother .sx Esther , his grandfather's sister .sx Two other surnames connected with the family- Penlee and Polwyn- though with little hope over the last .sx Leo , he felt , would hardly use the name of a man he despised so heartily .sx He thought deeply .sx What else was there to try ?sx Poldean , on the other side of the estuary , was too long .sx So was St. Finbar- although Finbar alone- suddenly he gave a shout of laughter that echoed oddly in the confined space .sx