“‘And that is the last you saw of the deceased?’

“‘That is the last I saw of him,’ replied Lord Brockelsby.

“He seemed to hesitate for a moment or two as if in thought whether he should speak or not, and then to suddenly make up his mind to speak, for he added:  ’I stayed in town the whole of that day, and only drove back to Brockelsby late in the evening.  I had some business to transact, and put up at the Grand, as I usually do, and dined with some friends.’

“‘Would you tell us at what time you returned to Brockelsby Castle?’

“’I think it must have been about eleven o’clock.  It is a seven-mile drive from here.’

“‘I believe,’ said the coroner after a slight pause, during which the attention of all the spectators was riveted upon the handsome figure of the young man as he stood in the witness-box, the very personification of a high-bred gentleman, ’I believe that I am right in stating that there was an unfortunate legal dispute between your lordship and your brother?’

“‘That is so.’

“The coroner stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment or two, then he added: 

“’In the event of the deceased’s claim to the joint title and revenues of De Genneville being held good in the courts of law, there would be a great importance, would there not, attached to his marriage, which was to have taken place on the 15th?’

“‘In that event, there certainly would be.’

“’Is the jury to understand, then, that you and the deceased parted on amicable terms after your interview with him in the morning?’

“The Earl of Brockelsby hesitated again for a minute or two, while the crowd and the jury hung breathless on his lips.

“‘There was no enmity between us,’ he replied at last.

“’From which we may gather that there may have been—­shall I say—­a slight disagreement at that interview?’

“’My brother had unfortunately been misled by the misrepresentations or perhaps the too optimistic views of his lawyer.  He had been dragged into litigation on the strength of an old family document which he had never seen, which, moreover, is antiquated, and, owing to certain wording in it, invalid.  I thought that it would be kinder and more considerate if I were to let my brother judge of the document for himself.  I knew that when he had seen it he would be convinced of the absolutely futile basis of his claim, and that it would be a terrible disappointment to him.  That is the reason why I wished to see him myself about it, rather than to do it through the more formal—­perhaps more correct—­medium of our respective lawyers.  I placed the facts before him with, on my part, a perfectly amicable spirit.’

“The young Earl of Brockelsby had made this somewhat lengthy, perfectly voluntary explanation of the state of affairs in a calm, quiet voice, with much dignity and perfect simplicity, but the coroner did not seem impressed by it, for he asked very drily: