Instantly Mr. Jeffrey betrayed by a nervous action, which was quite
involuntary, that his outward calm was slowly giving way under a
fire of questions for which he had no ready reply.

"It was odd, your not going home that night," the coroner coldly
pursued. "The misunderstanding you had with your wife immediately
after breakfast must have been a very serious one; more serious
than you have hitherto acknowledged."

"I had rather not discuss the subject," protested Mr. Jeffrey.
Then as if he suddenly recognized the official character of his
interlocutor, he hastily added: "Unless you positively request me
to do so; in which case I must."

"I am afraid that I must insist upon it," returned the other. "You
will find that it will be insisted upon at the inquest, and if you
do not wish to subject yourself to much unnecessary unpleasantness,
you had better make clear to us to-day the cause of that
special quarrel which to all intents and purposes led to your wife's
death."

"I will try to do so," returned Mr. Jeffrey, rising and pacing the
room in his intense restlessness. "We did have some words; her
conduct the night before had not pleased me. I am naturally
jealous, vilely jealous, and I thought she was a little frivolous
at the German ambassador's ball. But I had no idea she would take
my sharp speeches so much to heart. I had no idea that she would
care so much or that I should care so much. A little jealousy is
certainly pardonable in a bridegroom, and if her mind had not
already been upset, she would have remembered how I loved her and