May I ask," he continued with quiet sarcasm, "to what I am indebted for this unexpected visit ?" She was silent for a moment, and as he watched her his surprise grew.
Equivocal though her position was, he knew very well that this was no ordinary thief whom he had surprised in his rooms, engaged to all appearance in rifling his desk.

The fact that she was a beautiful woman was one which he scarcely took into account.

There were other things more surprising which he could not ignore.

Her evening dress of black net was faultlessly made, and he knew enough of such things to be well aware that it came from the hands of no ordinary dressmaker.

A string of pearls, her only ornament, hung from her neck, and her black hat with its drooping feathers was the fellow of one which he had admired a few evenings ago at the Ritz in Paris.