The Beaumont Tradition — Dorothy Daniels

OUT OF THE DARKNESS I HEARD SOMEONE CALLING MY NAME.

I couldn't answer. I couldn't form any words; my hands seemed to hang limply at my sides. How had I gotten here in this vast, black limbo? Why wasn't I in bed?

The voice came again. "Joyce! Joyce!"

Someone else, a woman, said, "Be careful, she has a knife!"

Slowly I forced my eyes open. I was standing in the corridor, and my fingers were gripping something. Dizzily I looked down. What I held was a stiletto, its narrow blade covered with blood...

Joyce's marriage to Vern Beaumont brings her love, wealth and danger. And she doesn't know that he is dying of a hereditary disease. His family thinks she is an unscrupulous fortune hunter and soon she and Vern are both in danger.