First, I thought Mr, Smedley's death looked fairly peaceful to me. There's going to be some signs of "discomfort" in any manner of death. The body does "things" when it is getting harder to breathe and the heart is fighting to keep pumping. There's no getting around that with any manner of death. Another thing I thought about is Mr. Smedley's peaceful exist was do, in part, because he was at ease, and that in no small part was because he was surrounded by his loved ones. That cannot be dismissed. As "hard" as everyone wants to be in these forums, I think it's going to be a different experience when one dies alone. As far as N, at least it seems like it is fairly quick acting in putting someone to sleep. He may have been able to hear and feel the others around him for some time before finally succumbing to the N. Hopefully, he was able to feel his wife's hand for some time. Dying alone is not the same as dying surrounded by your loved ones.
And I don't want to be gross, but there's a another thing that can't be avoided. Mr. Smedley was taken care of, I'm sure, right after, or very soon after, he died. What I mean by that is that, I'm sure, a mortician came very soon after. If we take N, say in a secluded spot, it may be days before we are discovered. Muscles don't work anymore after our heart stops beating. What that means is that our bowels release what is in them soon after death, along with other bodily fluids. It is possible we could be like that for days. Who knows? I understand that it may not be a big deal to anyone here, but just laying it out there. I think having all the facts is important. I'm sure there are some here who never thought about that. This is true for any method chosen.