The inquest had ended in a verdict of accidental death, caused by the wear and tear of the chains by which the chandelier was hung from the ceiling; but it was the duty of both the old and the new managers to have discovered this wear and tear and to have remedied it in time.
And I feel bound to say that MM.

Richard and Moncharmin at this time appeared so changed, so absent-minded, so mysterious, so incomprehensible that many of the subscribers thought that some event even more horrible than the fall of the chandelier must have affected their state of mind.
In their daily intercourse, they showed themselves very impatient, except with Mme.

Giry, who had been reinstated in her functions.

And their reception of the Vicomte de Chagny, when he came to ask about Christine, was anything but cordial.

They merely told him that she was taking a holiday.