"'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:

"'Did you part good friends?'

"'On my side