than to be the accompaniment of christian burial mr was not a bad specimen of his kind and with sensible dr to insist on moderation in his professional display of grief there was less to find fault with than usual but it was not to be expected � it would not be barely decent said the to perform the matter otherwise � that the brother of an earl should be taken to his last home without and feathers so that poor in addition to the natural horrors of the scene had to face that by which those who have been rich in this world s goods are wont as if in symbol of the terrors awaiting them to have their death made hideous she left the hotel leaning on good mrs s arm and stepped with her into the single mourning coach her presence though it was only indicated by an occasional pressure of the hand was an comfort to her and without it it seemed to the poor lonely girl that she could never survived the ordeal no words of the awful service for the dead escaped her yet somehow greatly to her distress it seemed to lack there had been little � to speak plainly there had nothing � in all the dead man s life to associate it with that which was to come no word had been dropped from his lips concerning it his thoughts had been of the world and of no future save her own to the very last what comfort she experienced arose from the beauty and solitude of the churchyard itself which impressed themselves upon her notwithstanding that her eyes were throughout upon that which she was to behold no more she was conscious however of a large of spectators who kept silence and of a bird that held its song throughout the closing scene and mingled its la t notes with the falling mould she noticed too that the coffin was covered with fresh flowers and on the journey home inquired of her companion who had sent them not that i need ask she said with trembling gratitude nay darling it was not i answered mrs they were sent from cottage mr and mr had been present as were all the guests of the hotel mrs informed her that was kind indeed said as such matters seemed to interest her and in order to divert her thoughts her companion went on to say and i think you have at least one friend i� a q � fe nt if not she must been a fl ax i� t q s declined with thanks never saw one more moved with pity for another it was some lady from the castle a miss they tell me i never heard of her said not but in that mechanical tone in which we speak when our thoughts are far from our words i am sure she must have heard of persisted mrs it was not i noticed upon your poor father s grave but upon yourself as you stood beside it that her eyes were fixed she a thick veil on yet i saw enough of her face to note it was a kind one of the sympathy it showed for you answered nothing she had sunk back in her seat and with closed eyes was recalling the beautiful spot in which her father had been laid it was a very home of rest and peace with grass and flowers and by elms save when the voice of prayer arose from it the silence was unbroken except for the dreamy of the or when the wind was from the south for the far off murmur of the sea it seemed to her that if she had still a wish in life it was to dwell there but save for the which half hidden in a of beside the church there was no other dwelling place near it with one exception the most would have been out of proportion to her humble fortunes and that exception was comparatively a palace the churchyard was shut in on every side save one where a vista had been cut through the trees castle i noticed continued mrs pursuing her well meant efforts to rouse s attention � and as it happened in with her present thought � that the flag on tne castle was high indeed sighed then i fear i have some not so it was lowered i am assured in respect for the occasion mr may be a but such an act shows at least he has some feelings nodded in wearisome assent if the incident had happened in the case of another it would undoubtedly have interested her but the sense of loss was too new and keen to admit of other i topics of thought j it seems so cruel dear mrs she whispered to leave him yes that is what one always feels for all that my darling you will better for getting away poor was not thinking of herself at all all her ideas � as happens to many of us under the same sad circumstances � were in a state of she was thinking of doing living service to him who had passed out of all such possibilities and forgetting the personal needs that were about to be so urgent reached the hotel and were in their � n� j a from a thorn mrs suddenly inquired of her when are you thinking of going to p as a matter of fact though had forgotten it the day for their departure had been fixed and at the time she had offered no objection well my dear we did say to morrow you know hesitated her kind companion but i am sure if you wish to stop on longer william will make other arrangements shook her head if she was to go � and it was clear it was to be � to 