There was an inquest, but Rhoda happily escaped once more the trial of being called as a witness. Her health had broken down under the strain of the past few weeks, and although she was allowed to see Caryl for a little while every day, she was kept very quiet and received no visits, even from her own people.
The ladies at the Priory were, however, very kind to her, and did their best to make her forget what she had gone through.
Nobody knew better than they what she must have suffered at the hands of the exacting and capricious Lady Sarah, who, with all her charm, had been a difficult person to live with.
At the inquest Jack Rotherfield was called as a witness, and he was either lucky enough or clever enough to disarm every one by the depth of his distress at what he had done.
He declared that, having had a little quarrel with Sir Robert recently, he had been shy of coming to the house, but that, having met Miss Pembury one day out of doors, he had been anxious for her to come out and speak to him again, as he wished her to make his peace with Sir Robert.
Not being able to attract her attention in any other way, he had on seeing Miss Pembury, as he supposed, at her window, fired a revolver which he always carried about with him; and to his horror, a scream had told him that the bullet had struck the lady whom he had until that moment believed to be Miss Pembury, but who he then discovered by the voice to be Lady Sarah.
The story was not at all a probable one, but Jack was in such a state of acute distress that he produced a favourable impression, and he was let off lightly in examination and re-examination by the coroner and jury.
Sir Robert was able to testify to the truth of the statement that there had been a little quarrel between him and Rotherfield, and to the certainty he felt that Jack would not willingly have injured Lady Sarah.
The verdict brought in by the jury was one of death by misadventure, and the threatened scandal was happily averted.
There was a good deal of gossip, there were rumours, there were whispers, but no arrest was made, and the affair was hushed up, though not without some trembling on the part of the families involved.