She bade him look forward to a better world, where parents and
children, separated by death, would meet together never to part,
and to live as a Christian man should, that he might not lose so
dear a hope. The sun was slowly sinking in the west, amidst
gorgeous clouds, and she gazed into the glowing depths, as if she
saw the gate of Paradise therein.
It was but a few moments, while they yet lingered in conversation,
that her children observed a deadly paleness, a strange gray hue,
come over her face; suddenly she extended her arms, and fell back
upon her couch.
Wilfred ran for help. Even the Norman servants loved their
mistress, and hurried to her chamber; baron, priest, all were
there; she lay as if insensible, but when Father Elphege, the
prior, arrived, and began the litany for the dying, she raised her
head and strove to follow.
That morning she had received the Holy Communion at his hands; and
of the familiar rites prescribed by the Church of those days for
the comfort of the dying, only the last anointing, after the
example of Him, whose body was anointed for His burial, remained,
and with humble faith she received the holy rite.
This done, she made signs for her children to approach; she threw
her arms fondly around them in turn, but could not speak.
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