'It is some consolation for me to think,' said Mrs. Calverley, in measured tones, 'that I never failed to utter my protest against these reckless journeys, and that if Mr. Calverley had not obstinately persisted in ignoring my advice, on that as on every other point, he might have been here at this moment.'
'What was the immediate cause of death?' asked Martin Gurwood hurriedly, for his mother's tone and manner jarred harshly on his ear.
'It is impossible to say without--without an examination,' said the doctor, lowering his voice; 'but I should say, from the mere cursory glance we had, that death probably arose from pericarditis--what you would know as disease of the heart.'
'And that might be brought on by what?'
'It would probably be the remnant of some attack of rheumatic fever under which the deceased had suffered at some period of his life. But it has probably been accelerated or increased by excess of mental excitement or bodily fatigue.'
'There need have been no question of excitement or fatigue either, if my advice had been followed,' said Mrs. Calverley, with a defiant sniff; 'if Mr. Calverley had been more in his home--'
'Yes, mother; this is scarcely the time to enter into such questions,' said Martin Gurwood severely, for he was ashamed of his mother's peevish nagging. 'What arrangements have you made, doctor, in regard to the body of our poor friend?'
'None whatever at present,' said the doctor; 'we did the best we could temporarily, but this is a matter in which I thought it would be better to speak with you--alone,' he added, after a pause, glancing at Mrs. Calverley.
But that lady sat perfectly unmoved. 'Will there be an inquest?' she asked.
'I trust not, madam,' said the doctor dryly; for he was much scandalised at Mrs. Calverley's hardness and composure. I shall use all the influence I have to prevent any such inquiry, for the sake of the poor gentleman who is dead, and whom I always found a kind-hearted liberal man.'