“God! Oh, God! _Fanny_,” and dropped like a lifeless mass into his chair. The intense curiosity of all present directed to the corpse prevented the agitation of the minister being observed. Lieutenant Wilde identified the corpse as the body found by himself in the morning. Emily was then summoned, and corroborated the statement of her brother. When she was about to leave the stand she was asked— “Did you ever see or hear of this woman before?” “I never saw her before this morning, when I saw her dead upon the beach.” “Did you ever hear of her before?” “Yes—no—yes!—_no_, I never—” said Emily, confused between fact and fancy. Her confused answer drew upon her a close cross-examination, during which she alluded to the vision seen in the dell by Miss Churchill. She was then dismissed, and Sophie Churchill called to the stand. Sophie had been sitting in a remote part of the room—she had not bent forward as others had to view the corpse—hence she had not seen it at all; to the examination of the witnesses she had paid slight attention. Not one word of Emily’s testimony had she heard, by reason of the low tone in which Emily spoke. She arose when called, approached the bier, and when told to look upon the body, and say whether she had ever seen it before, she languidly cast her eyes down upon it, and recognised the apparition of the dell—the moonlight visitor of the Hall—started—tottered—and with a smothered cry sank back in the arms of the coroner in a swoon. All the company looked dismayed. Augustus Wilde sprang forward to receive her, took her from the coroner’s hold, and telling him angrily that he had exceeded his authority, bore her into the air, and sitting down with her on the steps of the piazza, hastily loosened her dress and fanned her with his cap. Emily was by his side, she had followed them; Sophie opened her eyes, and then resigning her to Emily’s care he returned to the hall, meeting Mrs. Gardiner Green bustling out to look after her protegée. The verdict, “death by drowning,” was rendered, and the jury broke up. The coroner and magistrates had decided that the body should be buried from the Hall in the family burial ground, with the consent of Miss Churchill. The magistrates were taking their hats and preparing to depart, when the figure of Sophie Churchill, pale and haggard as though newly arisen from the grave, appeared among them. “I have testimony to give, and I _must_ give it,” she said. The magistrates looked surprised, the company eager—Mrs. Gardiner Green, frowning, sat down. Emily, pale and expectant, stood by Sophie’s side. “The inquest is over,” said Mrs. Green at last. “Your testimony will be supererogatory, Miss Churchill.” “Her deposition can be taken by a magistrate,” said Lieutenant Wilde. “Miss Churchill is not now of sound mind, she is ill, her testimony cannot be taken,” persisted the proud lady.