Somehow or other, she found herself with the other key in her hand, stooping down.

She counted the drawers--one, two three--fitted in the key, turned it, and realised with a little start the presence in the drawer of a roll of parchment, tied around with tape and sealed with a black seal.

She laid her hand upon it, but even at that moment she felt a shiver pass through her body.
There had been no sound in the room, which she could have sworn had been empty when she entered it, yet she had now a conviction that she was not alone.

She turned slowly around, her lips parted, breathing quickly.
Standing in the middle of the room, a grim, commanding figure in his flowing green robes, the dim light flashing upon the great diamonds in his belt, stood Prince Shan.
To Maggie at that moment came a great throbbing in her ears, a sense of remoteness from this terrible happening, followed by an intense and vital consciousness of danger.

The man who had brought new things into her life, the polished gentleman of the world, with his fascinating brain and gentle courtesy, had gone.