And drop it I would not after _you_ had asked me to accept it, and--Pardon?
No, Miss Lorne, I do not know who the woman Margot really is.

Even that name may be fictitious, as was the one of 'Comtesse de la Tour.' I only know of her that she is one of the great figures of the Underworld; that money is her game--money alone; money first, last, and all the time; that her personal history is as much of a mystery to her closest associates as was--well, no matter; people of that ilk are not fit subjects to discuss with you.

All that I know of the woman is that she has travelled pretty well over the world; that some six or eight months ago she was in Ceylon with a--er--a certain member of her crew, and came within an ace of falling foul of the law.

She had put up a plan to loot the depository of the Pearl Fisheries Company at a period when there were thousands of pounds worth of gems awaiting transport.

With her usual luck she slipped out of the net and left the country before she could be arrested.