In consequence of the message of Geoffery, as conveyed by his
unprincipled tool, Mr. Fips, together with the reports already in
circulation, the coroner felt it his duty to visit Arden in his official
capacity.
Alfred had hitherto, as we have stated, indulged his mournful feelings,
by remaining entirely secluded.
He had given the necessary orders for the funeral, on that scale of
magnificence, which the rank, but still more the immense fortune of the
deceased called for; and was beginning to flatter himself, that his
endeavours to prevent the idea of a suicide becoming prevalent had been
successful, and that there would be no unpleasant interference.
On being apprized, however, of the arrival of the coroner, he again felt
some uneasiness on this head.
He knew that the suspicion he had himself so long entertained, of
Willoughby's liability to derangement, had been ever buried in his own
bosom. He even knew, strange as it may seem that such should be the
privilege granted to affection, that his brother, though he loved him
better than any one else in the world, had never been half so odd and
inconsistent in temper, towards any one, as towards himself; and still
more, that even latterly, since the actual presence of derangement had
to Alfred been clearly evident, yet, from the turn it had taken, of
seemingly exuberant spirits, it had been apparent only to the anxious,
watchful, constant companion, which was himself; and was not of a nature
to be seen through by the careless apprehensions of servants, during
merely casual attendance; but, on the contrary, was rather calculated to
convey to them the idea that their master enjoyed more than his usual
health and spirits. Altogether, then, it rested on his own single,
unsupported evidence, to prove that his brother had been deranged, and
was therefore entitled to Christian burial. He was probably not aware,
how much the admission of insanity in those cases, is, in general,
matter of form. And little did he think, that it was his own life and
reputation which were at stake, and that the preservation of the one,
and the restoration of the other, rested also on his own single,
unsupported evidence: nay, that every thing he had ever generously or
kindly done, to hide the infirmities, or spare the feelings of others,
would now be ranged in evidence against himself.
The coroner, in consequence of the secret information with which he had
been supplied, came provided with a warrant to search for the missing
packet of poison. His first step was, to demand Sir Alfred's keys; his
next, a request to be shown Sir Alfred's escritoire; on opening which,
he drew forth, to the evident horror of all present, the paper of
arsenic. He held it on the open palm of his extended hand, for some
moments; looking round, as he did so, with a countenance of great
solemnity, and, to do him justice, of sorrow. Then, delivering the
packet into safe keeping, he proceeded, by virtue of his official
authority, to require that the body of the deceased should be opened.
So slow was Alfred in suspecting the truth, that he still believed the
coroner's sole view was to ascertain whether or not his brother had put
a period to his own existence. He was, however, now obliged to submit to
the required examination, the result of which was, a unanimous opinion
on the part of the medical men present, that Sir Willoughby had died
from the effects of poison, probably arsenic, but that this point might
be placed beyond a doubt, the contents of the stomach were reserved to
be subjected to the proper tests.
The coroner then holding his inquest in the very library in which the
melancholy event had taken place, the servants, and all persons
connected or supposed to be connected with the affair were severally
examined. Doctor Harman, on being required so to do, produced the fatal
scrap of paper which he had seen fall from within the breast of Sir
Alfred's waistcoat, and the actual arsenic which, by the test of
reduction he had obtained from the sediment in the glass that Sir Alfred
had attempted to rinse in his presence. The packet of arsenic was
examined: it was perceived that a portion of its outer envelope had been
torn away, the torn part was compared with the piece so seen to fall
from the breast of Sir Alfred. The fitting together of every
irregularity of the sundered portions, the texture of the material, the
peculiar characters, being those of print yet done with a pen, in which
the two words, "_Arsenic, Poison_," were distinctly legible, the one on
the one part, the other on the other, all clearly proved the smaller
piece of paper to have once been a part of that which still contained
the arsenic. The answers of the persons examined then went on to prove
the various facts of the glasses having been wiped the moment before
they were brought in--of the impossibility from the situation of the
arsenic, of any portion of it having fallen accidentally into either of
them--of Sir Alfred having been seen in the afternoon coming from the
saddle-room alone--of his previous knowledge where the arsenic lay--of
the brothers having supped together, and no third person having entered
the room from the time the tray had been carried in, till the alarm had
been given by Sir Alfred, and Sir Willoughby found in the agonies of
death--of the order for antidotes--the attempt to rinse the glass, &c.
&c. &c.--and, finally, of Sir Alfred's having since refused to allow the
body to be opened.
Although it was easily evident to all, but Sir Alfred himself, that the
tendency of this examination was to prove him the wilful murderer of his
brother, so remote was the apprehension of such a suspicion from his
pure, exalted, and preoccupied thoughts, that he was long, indeed, in
comprehending the nature of the proceedings. When, however, it became no
longer possible to avoid drawing from all that was passing, the too
evident conclusion to which every question and reply directly led, his
horror was little short of that with which he would have contemplated
the actual commission of the crime, had some fiend possessed the power
of requiring of him such a service.
We shall not make any attempt to describe the outraged feelings of our
hero on this afflicting occasion; but simply state the result of the
proceedings, which was, that the coroner felt it his painful duty to
commit Sir Alfred.