After learning that his wife Helen intends to leave him, Arthur Huntingdon demands all her keys. Helen plays for time by protesting that she does not have them, while trying to palm them from her nearby desk; but Arthur spots her sleight-of-hand, and wrings them violently from her hand.

After taking her keys, Arthur now promises to take Helen’s paint brushes from her, knowing that her art is vital to her escape plan. He breezes into the library, where Helen is accustomed to paint, and throws her brushes and colours onto the fire before summoning the butler and directing that Helen’s easel be chopped up for firewood.

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