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mild expression of face, and said, "If our beloved angel sees us now, it
will delight her to find that I do you even tardy justice. You were worthy
of her; and from my heart I am glad that you won her away from me. Pardon,
my son, the many wrongs I have done you; forget my bitter words and unkind
treatment--take me, and govern me as you will."
I seized this docile moment to propose our departure from the church.
"First," she said, "let us replace the pavement above the vault."
We drew near to it; "Shall we look on her again?" I asked.
"I cannot," she replied, "and, I pray you, neither do you. We need not
torture ourselves by gazing on the soulless body, while her living spirit
is buried quick in our hearts, and her surpassing loveliness is so deeply
carved there, that sleeping or waking she must ever be present to us."
For a few moments, we bent in solemn silence over the open vault. I
consecrated my future life, to the embalming of her dear memory; I vowed to
serve her brother and her child till death. The convulsive sob of my
companion made me break off my internal orisons. I next dragged the stones
over the entrance of the tomb, and closed the gulph that contained the life
of my life. Then, supporting my decrepid fellow-mourner, we slowly left the
chapel. I felt, as I stepped into the open air, as if I had quitted an
happy nest of repose, for a dreary wilderness, a tortuous path, a bitter,
joyless, hopeless pilgrimage.
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