"Tell Auburn... I... loved him so!" -- These last words from a dying girl still haunted Dr. Noel Frensham; still made him bitter.

The voyage back from India had been a memorable one for Frensham. Racked with a terrible sickness, he had come very close to death. Convinced that his hours were numbered, he had persuaded a pretty fellow passenger, Peta Marley, to marry him, hoping to repay her goodness with the money he would leave her after his death. But amazingly he had recovered.

It was then that Peta told him of her love for Auburn Lyell. She pleaded with him to annul their marriage and set her free. But Noel had seen death on one young innocent face because of this man, and he was determined to prevent it happening again.