The blade sticks." (I nodded again.) "It needs a hard pull to wrench it out....

He has also inspected the wound, and assures me its character is such that it MIGHT have been self-inflicted." She paused now and again, and brought out her words with difficulty.

"Self-inflicted, he suggests; therefore, that THIS may have happened.

It is admitted--WILL be admitted--the servants overheard it--we can make no reservation there--a difference of opinion, an altercation, even, took place between Hugo and Clara that evening"-- she started suddenly--"why, it was only last night--it seems like ages--an altercation about the children's schooling.

Clara held strong views on the subject of the children"-- her eyes blinked hard--"which Hugo did not share.