Mayerling, Part 3 of 4

The Doctor's Tale The female died of blood loss from the womb. The Court declined my offer to exhume her. Age of seventeen, of thereabouts. There doesn't seem to be the slightest doubt that this was an abortion, badly-botched. My best guess is, the male sat there and watched his lover die. He may have waited hours before he acted. It took all his powers of self-control to do the thing he did. No actus interveniens, tertium quid. He knew he'd killed her. Overcome by dread, discharged his pistol here. Side of his head.