Transcriber’s note Variable spelling and hyphenation have been retained. Minor punctuation inconsistencies have been silently repaired. A list of the changes made can be found at the end of the book. Formatting and special characters are indicated as follows: _italic_ AN OPEN VERDICT A Novel BY THE AUTHOR OF ‘LADY AUDLEY’S SECRET’ ETC. ETC. ETC. IN THREE VOLUMES VOL. II. [Illustration] LONDON: JOHN MAXWELL AND CO. 4, SHOE LANE, FLEET STREET, 1878 [_All rights reserved._] CONTENTS TO VOL. II. CHAP. PAGE I. DEATH BRINGS COOL NIGHT AFTER LIFE’S SULTRY DAY! 1 II. DUST AND AN ENDLESS DARKNESS 17 III. BEFORE THE CORONER 31 IV. CHRISTMAS EVE 49 V. GLOOMY DAYS 65 VI. BELLA’S REVENGE 82 VII. MINE OWN FAMILIAR FRIEND 96 VIII. CYRIL RENOUNCES LOVE AND FORTUNE 109 IX. ‘THOSE ARE THE KILLING GRIEFS WHICH DARE NOT SPEAK’ 128 X. ‘ALAS! I HAVE NOR HOPE NOR HEALTH’ 141 XI. ‘WHY WAS MY CRESSID THEN SO HARD TO WIN?’ 159 XII. SOMETHING MUST BE DONE 176 XIII. ‘A SMILE OF THINE SHALL MAKE MY BLISS’ 189 XIV. ‘OH, BREAK, MY HEART!--POOR BANKRUPT, BREAK AT ONCE’ 208 XV. BUT AM I NOT THE NOBLER THROUGH THY LOVE? 216 XVI. I ONLY LEARNED TO DOUBT AT LAST 230 XVII. THE ONLY SON OF HIS MOTHER 248 XVIII. ‘SICK, SICK TO THE HEART OF LIFE AM I’ 274 XIX. MR. PIPER FALLS IN LOVE 291 XX. MR. PIPER MAKES AN OFFER 300 XXI. CYRIL’S NURSES 314 AN OPEN VERDICT. CHAPTER I. ‘DEATH BRINGS COOL NIGHT AFTER LIFE’S SULTRY DAY.’ MONDAY morning was bleak and cold. There was neither frost nor snow, but a driving rain that beat fiercely upon all the southern windows of the Water House, and obscured the view of river and village, church tower and moorland.