Shall they set his bed on fire? An excellent idea; but the smoke
might be seen. No: the circumstances being now entirely altered,
poisoning him presents the easiest way out of it. He has simply
become a superfluous person. The cheapest poison will do.--
Is it possible, Henry, that you believe this consultation really
took place?'
Henry made no reply. The succession of the questions that had just
been read to him, exactly followed the succession of the dreams
that had terrified Mrs. Norbury, on the two nights which she had
passed in the hotel. It was useless to point out this coincidence
to his brother. He only said, 'Go on.'
Lord Montbarry turned the pages until he came to the next
intelligible passage.
'Here,' he proceeded, 'is a double scene on the stage--so far as I can
understand the sketch of it. The Doctor is upstairs, innocently writing
his certificate of my Lord's decease, by the dead Courier's bedside.
Down in the vaults, the Baron stands by the corpse of the poisoned lord,
preparing the strong chemical acids which are to reduce it
to a heap of ashes--Surely, it is not worth while to trouble
ourselves with deciphering such melodramatic horrors as these?
Let us get on! let us get on!'
He turned the leaves again; attempting vainly to discover the meaning
of the confused scenes that followed.
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