"Margaret, my darling!" he said in a choked, broken voice.
Cleek smiled.
"You found her where I said?" he asked, addressing the Superintendent who stood breathless but triumphant beside him.
The query reduced the roomful of people to a state of breathless silence as Mr. Narkom nodded vigorously.
"Yes," said he, briskly. "She was in Gunga Dall's house, and bound and gagged, poor child, although she seems to have recovered herself very well now."
He smiled at her as she stood crimson and shy beside the upright figure of her lover, and she gave him a smile in return.
"Yes," she said in a soft voice, looking up into Sir Edgar's eyes, "I am perfectly recovered, thank you!... No, Edgar, you mustn't," as that gentleman sprang forward in Gunga Dall's direction and made as if to attack him; "he will meet with the justice he deserves, dear, soon enough."
"Well said," threw in Cleek with an approving smile at this philosophical young person, "I agree with Sir Edgar's sentiments, Lady Margaret, so long as they remain sentiments and nothing else. But now what about that story which we are all waiting so breathlessly for? Do you feel up to relating your adventures, just to clear away the curiosity which I see written on every face?"
He set a chair for her and she thanked him with a gesture. Seating herself, she blushed crimson at the sight of the crowd that surrounded her.