“No, I thought of nothing but trying to save him. I did not believe that he was dead.”
There was a look of agony in her large wide open eyes as she said this—a piteous remembrance of the moment while she still hoped—which thrilled the spectators.
“What course did you take?”
“I rang for the servants. They came after a time that seemed long—but I believe they came quickly.”
“And after they had come——?”
“I remembered nothing more. They wanted me to believe that he was dead—and I would not—I could not believe—and—I remember no more till next day.”
“That will do, Lady Carmichael. I will not trouble you further.”
Lady Jane and Lady Cheriton wanted to take her away after this, but she insisted upon remaining.
“I wish to hear every word,” she said.
They submitted, and the three women, robed in densest black, sat in a little group behind the Coroner till the end of that day’s inquiry.