“Brave girl!”
The tone I can never convey.
Then he made for the door.
As he laid his hand on the knob, he called back:
“I have been in worse straits than this!”
But he never had; when he opened the door, he found himself face to face with the inspector.
XXIII.
THE GREAT MOGUL
Later, it was all explained. Mr. Grey, looking like another man, came into the room where I was endeavoring to soothe his startled daughter and devour in secret my own joy. Taking the sweet girl in his arms, he said, with a calm ignoring of my presence, at which I secretly smiled:
“This is the happiest moment of my existence, Helen. I feel as if I had recovered you from the brink of the grave.”
“Me? Why, I have never been so ill as that.”