Valora did not answer and he saw that she was reading the note on the young man’s chest.
The Duke turned to leave, pulling her by the hand.
“No wait!” she exclaimed.
“Look, there is nothing we can do,” he answered. “He shot himself through the heart and has been dead for some time.”
“How could he do anything so – foolish?” Valora asked. “Think what Charlotte – whoever she is, will – feel.”
“Perhaps she drove him to it,” the Duke replied.
He was still trying to pull Valora away, but she resisted him.
“He is entitled to take his own life, but not to ruin hers.”
“What do you mean?”
“Can you not understand what they will say about her when he is found?”
Valora looked again at the note before she went on,
“He has done that deliberately to hurt her and all her life people will point a
