Yes, there in the region of the heart was a gaping wound.
The inquest came on; the facts came out--mysteriously whispered before, spoken aloud now.

And for the first time the truth dawned on the stunned baronet--he was suspected of the murder of the wife he loved! The revolting atrocity, the unnatural horror of the charge, nerved him as nothing else could have done.

His pale, proud face grew rigid as stone; his blue eyes flashed scornful defiance; his head reared itself haughtily aloft.

How dare they accuse him of so monstrous a crime?
But the circumstantial evidence was crushing.

Sybilla Silver's evidence alone would have damned him.
She gave it with evident reluctance; but give it she did with frightful force, and the bereaved young husband stood stunned at the terrible strength of the case she made out.
Everything told against him.