The coroner, in a mild rebuke administered to the foreman of the jury, said the court was assembled to inquire into the death of Count de Mürger, but it was not a court of social investigation; it was not an inquisition charged with a mission to unravel scandal or to exploit the life and manners of a section of Her Majesty’s subjects. While he would take any evidence that bore upon the case, however painful that evidence might be to the private feelings or public reputation of even the highest in the land, he would not allow that court to be unduly inquisitorial in matters that could only satisfy the prurient and licentious taste of that wretched section of the public which found its chief amusement in French novels and the scandals of Vanity Fair. Poor coroner! he lived to regret those words. Even some of the very best newspapers condemned them; and the worst called for the coroner’s instant dismissal, as a panderer to the aristocracy and unfit to preside over a court of any kind. On the first day of the inquest the coroner asked why Lord Francis Onslow was not present. The question created an expectant hush, which was maintained while Mr. Jarrow Cook, of the firm of Cook, Son & Lovett, the family lawyers of the Onslows, explained that Lord Francis was somewhere abroad--where, they did not know. “When did Lord Francis quit the hotel where the count was killed?” asked the foreman of the jury. “I do not know,” was the lawyer’s reply. “I believe he left very early and suddenly for London, and then went on to Paris. Is that so?” “I really cannot say,” was the lawyer’s answer. “I do not know that these questions are in order, Mr. Foreman,” said the coroner. “May be not, Mr. Coroner,” replied the foreman, “but there is a good deal, it strikes me, in the conduct of Lord Francis Onslow in this matter that requires explanation.” “Mr. Coroner,” said the lawyer, “if you will permit me to say so, Lord Francis will, I am quite sure, be quite ready to answer any questions that this honorable court may desire to ask him; but I think in his absence that----” “Certainly,” said the coroner, interrupting Mr. Jarrow Cook, of the firm of Cook, Son & Lovett. “I am sure the foreman will feel that it is not within our province at the moment to refer to the conduct of Lord Francis Onslow. His lordship will, no doubt, present himself before us in due course, if wanted. If necessary, I will order his attendance.” At this there was some applause in court, and Mr. Jarrow Cook rose to remark with all deference that he thought the coroner’s observation uncalled for, whereupon the coroner reminded Mr. Jarrow Cook that he was only there by courtesy, and that he must request him not to offer any further criticism of a personal nature in regard to the conduct of the court. Mr. Jarrow Cook bowed, and the proceedings went on without any further interruption.