Penny Blood Serial Fiction — page 48: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE INQUEST 31 erers of a crime may not incur the risk of being identified with the criminals. In the present case we have two gentle- men who, so far from being in needy circumstances, bounte- ously reward a poor peasant family for hospitalities and services previously vouchsafed. Accident brings them for the moment in contact with those persons whom they are destined shortly afterward to find stretched lifeless upon the ground. But it is clear that these gentlemen and those victims were previously unacquainted with each other, and that an invitation was given by the lady to one of these eentlemen to visit her in London, which he, however, civilly declined. When these gentlemen discover the bodies, noth- ing is plundered from them except a parcel which by its size and description probably contained some dress or articles of clothing. The gentlemen, moreover, give a prompt alarm, render all possible assistance, and voluntarily come forward to tender their evidence at this inquest. One of these gentle- men recently saved the life of a female in that very river on the bank of which the present tragedy took place, thus exhibiting a magnanimity and generosity of conduct de- serving all our admiration. Gentlemen of the jury, I hope that you will not consider these remarks to be misplaced, as it might have happened to any two of us here to have been on that spot and at that hour last night to make the fearful discovery which was made by those two gentlemen.” When the coroner had concluded his address, the jury deliberated but for a few minutes, and came to a verdict of “‘ Wilful murder against some person or persons un- known.” Thus terminated the proceedings of the coroner’s inquest. Mr. Gunthorpe and Deveril returned to the hotel at which they were staying, and there they deliberated together what course they should now pursue. The old gentle- man at first proposed that being in the neighbourhood he should pay one more visit to Lady Saxondale, in the hope of being able to induce her to do justice to William Deveril, in respect to the calumnies she had propagated against him, for he thought that he might frighten her into this course by revealing the fact of the discovery that she was in cor- )respondence with such a person as Mr. Chiffin. But upon mature reflection, Mr. Gunthorpe concluded that Lady Saxondale was a woman of such strong effrontery and brazen COMNICLOOOKS.E@