The head not being destroyed, the obvious alternative is to hide it--
and the Baron is equal to the occasion. His studies in the old library
have informed him of a safe place of concealment in the palace.
The Countess may recoil from handling the acids and watching the process
of cremation; but she can surely sprinkle a little disinfecting
powder--'
'No more!' Henry reiterated. 'No more!'
'There is no more that can be read, my dear fellow. The last page
looks like sheer delirium. She may well have told you that her
invention had failed her!'
'Face the truth honestly, Stephen, and say her memory.'
Lord Montbarry rose from the table at which he had been sitting,
and looked at his brother with pitying eyes.
'Your nerves are out of order, Henry,' he said. 'And no wonder,
after that frightful discovery under the hearth-stone. We won't dispute
about it; we will wait a day or two until you are quite yourself again.
In the meantime, let us understand each other on one point at least.
You leave the question of what is to be done with these pages of writing
to me, as the head of the family?'
'I do.
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