'Have you thought of what I said to you earlier in the day?'
he asked, taking a chair at her side. 'Do you agree with me
that the one dreadful doubt which oppressed us both is at least set
at rest?'
Agnes shook her head sadly. 'I wish I could agree with you, Henry--
I wish I could honestly say that my mind is at ease.'
The answer would have discouraged most men. Henry's patience
(where Agnes was concerned) was equal to any demands on it.
'If you will only look back at the events of the day,' he said,
'you must surely admit that we have not been completely baffled.
Remember how Dr. Bruno disposed of our doubts:--"After thirty years
of medical practice, do you think I am likely to mistake the symptoms
of death by bronchitis?" If ever there was an unanswerable question,
there it is! Was the consul's testimony doubtful in any part of it?
He called at the palace to offer his services, after hearing of Lord
Montbarry's death; he arrived at the time when the coffin was in the house;
he himself saw the corpse placed in it, and the lid screwed down.
The evidence of the priest is equally beyond dispute.
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