The Gamblers by William Le Queux — Read

So still, so pale, and so bloodless were my mysterious companion's lips, that at the first moment I feared she might be dead. Her appearance was that of a corpse. But after careful watching I saw that she was breathing lightly, but regularly, and thus I became satisfied.

The curious marks, as though a man's hand had attempted to strangle her, were of a pale yellowish-brown, the colour of disappearing bruises. One was narrow and small, where the finger had pressed; the other wide and long, the mark of the thumb.