If such influence had been used to the prevention of the King favouring a danseuse like Elena Sanz, which brought so much sorrow and so many complications in the Royal Family, his life might certainly have been prolonged. It was true that the doctors advised the King’s wintering in Andalusia, but “State reasons” led to the failing Sovereign being exposed to the colder climate and sharp winds of the Palace of the Pardo, where politicians could use their influence with the invalid, and remind him continually that he alone was the arbiter of parties. Alfonso was only twenty-seven years of age when he felt he was doomed to an early death; but his natural energy led him to take horse exercise, despatch business with his Ministers every day, and, in spite of daily increasing weakness, to do as much as possible. If his longing for the sea-breezes of San Sebastian had been gratified, his life might have been prolonged; but politicians gave little heed to the plea, and their authority was paramount. On November 24, 1894, the royal invalid was seized with faintness when he came in from a walk. Queen Maria Cristina, Queen Isabella, and the Duchess of Montpensier, were called to his side. Seeing his wife by him when he recovered consciousness, the King embraced her, and the alarming symptoms vanished for a time; but the following day he was seized with another fainting fit, which proved fatal. We read in _La Ilustracion Española_ of this date, that when Queen Maria Cristina was told by Dr. Riedel that all was over, she fell weeping at the head of the bed of her unhappy husband, whilst covering his hand with kisses. [Illustration: DEATH OF ALFONSO XII. After the Painting by J. A. Benlliure y Gil] Cardinal Benavides performed the sacred office of the occasion. The doctor could not suppress his emotion, and hid his face, covered with tears, in his hands; and Count Morphy, the King’s faithful secretary, went sorrowfully to announce the sad news to the Queen-mother and the rest of the Royal Family. At nine o’clock the next morning the little daughters came to embrace their father for the last time. The Queen, with only the assistance of Dr. Camison, prepared the body of her husband for burial, and she assisted at the obsequies in the Escorial with her little daughter, the Queen of Spain. Arrived at the historic monastery, the Augustine Brothers came to meet the sad cortège, in their black vestments and holding lighted torches, and, headed by the Prior and the Principal, the procession passed to the burial-place of the Kings. The iron seemed to enter the soul of Maria Cristina when the Chief of the Palace cried before the catafalque: “Señor, señor, señor!”