st very kindly, 'will you
try to tell me if there was anything in Mrs. Hazeldene's life which you
know of, and which might in some measure explain the cause of the
distressed state of mind, which you yourself had noticed? Did there
exist any financial difficulty which might have preyed upon Mrs.
Hazeldene's mind; was there any friend--to whose intercourse with Mrs.
Hazeldene--you--er--at any time took exception? In fact,' added the
coroner, as if thankful that he had got over an unpleasant moment, 'can
you give me the slightest indication which would tend to confirm the
suspicion that the unfortunate lady, in a moment of mental anxiety or
derangement, may have wished to take her own life?'

"There was silence in the court for a few moments. Mr. Hazeldene seemed
to every one there present to be labouring under some terrible moral
doubt. He looked very pale and wretched, and twice attempted to speak
before he at last said in scarcely audible tones:

"'No; there were no financial difficulties of any sort. My wife had an
independent fortune of her own--she had no extravagant tastes--'

"'Nor any friend you at any time objected to?' insisted the coroner.

"'Nor any friend, I--at any time objected to,' stammered the unfortunate
young man, evidently speaking with an effort.

"I was present at the inquest," resumed the man in the corner, after he
had drunk a glass of milk and ordered another, "and I can assure you
that the most obtuse person there plainly realized that Mr. Hazeldene
was telling a lie. It was pretty plain to the meanest intelligence that
the unfortunate lady had not fallen into a state of morbid dejection for
nothing, and that perhaps there existed a third person who could throw
more light on her strange and sudden death than the unhappy, bereaved
young widower.

"That the death was more mysterious even than it had at first appeared
became very soon apparent. You read the case at the time, no doubt, and
must remember the excitement in the public mind caused by the evidence
of the two doctors. Dr. Arthur Jones, the lady's usual medical man, who
had attended her in a last very slight illness, and who had seen her in
a professional capacity fairly recently, declared most emphatically that
Mrs. Hazeldene suffered from no organic complaint which could possibly
have been the cause of sudden death. Moreover, he had assisted Mr.
Andrew Thornton, the district medical officer, in making a postmortem
examination, and