‘There is no possible doubt of it,’ Henry replied.

‘No possible doubt?’ his brother repeated.  ’I shall go on with my reading, Henry—­and see what justification there may be for that confident conclusion of yours.’

He read on steadily, until he had reached the end of the Second Act.  Then he looked up.

’Do you really believe that the mutilated remains which you discovered this morning are the remains of our brother?’ he asked.  ‘And do you believe it on such evidence as this?’

Henry answered silently by a sign in the affirmative.

Lord Montbarry checked himself—­evidently on the point of entering an indignant protest.

’You acknowledge that you have not read the later scenes of the piece,’ he said.  ’Don’t be childish, Henry!  If you persist in pinning your faith on such stuff as this, the least you can do is to make yourself thoroughly acquainted with it.  Will you read the Third Act?  No?  Then I shall read it to you.’

He turned to the Third Act, and ran over those fragmentary passages which were clearly enough written and expressed to be intelligible to the mind of a stranger.

‘Here is a scene in the vaults of the palace,’ he began.  ’The victim of the conspiracy is sleeping on his miserable bed; and the Baron and the Countess are considering the position in which they stand.  The Countess (as well as I can make it out) has raised the money that is wanted by borrowing on the security of her jewels at Frankfort; and the Courier upstairs is still declared by the Doctor to have a chance of recovery.  What are the conspirators to do, if the man does recover?  The cautious Baron suggests setting the prisoner free.  If he ventures to appeal to the law, it is easy to declare that he is subject to insane delusion, and to call his own wife as witness.  On the other hand, if the Courier dies, how is the sequestrated and unknown nobleman to be put out of the way?  Passively, by letting him starve in his prison?  No:  the Baron is a man of refined tastes; he dislikes needless cruelty.  The active policy remains—­ say, assassination by the knife of a hired bravo?  The Baron objects to trusting an accomplice; also to spending money on anyone but himself.  Shall they drop their prisoner into the canal?  The Baron declines to trust water; water will show him on the surface.  Shall they set his bed on fire?  An excellent idea; but the smoke might be seen.  No:  the circumstances being now entirely altered, poisoning him presents the easiest way out of it.  He has simply become a superfluous person.  The cheapest poison will do.—­ Is it possible, Henry, that you believe this consultation really took place?’

Henry made no reply.  The succession of the questions that had just been read to him, exactly followed the succession of the dreams that had terrified Mrs. Norbury, on the two nights which she had passed in the hotel.  It was useless to point out this coincidence to his brother.  He only said, ‘Go on.’