"Just what I say, sir."
"You—you say he intruded, General," the Coroner persisted. "Is it not a fact that his attitude in this matter has brought about a severance of his relations with the rest of the family?"
"We hold no communication."
"Was Miss Westbrook opposed to the proposed marriage?"
"This is nonsense. What have the vagaries and whims of a young girl to do with this—"
"Again, General, pardon me; I must press the question," interrupted the Coroner. "If it is possible, we will avoid calling upon Miss Westbrook to testify."
General Westbrook stared at his questioner in speechless astonishment, for so long a time that the latter was obliged to speak again.
"We may presume, then, that she was not in complete sympathy with the idea?"
The witness all at once smiled—the kind of smile his opponents had learned to dread.
"I would not take it upon myself to correct any ideas you may have formed upon the subject," he said, pleasantly, while an audible, but quickly suppressed, titter ran round the room, and the heavy countenance of the Coroner became a dull red.