"No one was ever more dead. I tell you I saw him die; he was buried, and you went to his funeral." Here again her voice altered. She sat upright and motioned with her hand. "Will you bring the coffin in here, please, into this room? Yes; it seems a nice coffin--well finished. The coffin is made of oak. That is right. Oak lasts. I can't bear coffins that crumble away very quickly. This is a good one--you have taken pains with it--I am pleased. Lay him in gently. "He is not very heavy, is he? You see how worn he is. Consumption!--yes, consumption. He had been a long time dying, but at the end it was sudden. Hemorrhage of the lungs. We did it to save Gabrielle, and to keep away--what, what, _what_ did we want to keep away?--Oh, yes, dishonour! The--the--" Here she burst into a loud laugh. "You don't suppose, you undertaker's men, that I'm going to tell you what we did it for? Dr. Mackenzie was there--he saw him just at the end. Now you have placed him nicely in his coffin, and you can go. Thank you, you can go now. I don't want you to see his face. A dead face is too sacred. You must not look on it. He is peaceful, only pale, very pale. All dead people look pale. Is he as pale as most dead people? Oh, I forgot--you can't see him. And as cold? Oh, yes, I think so, quite. You want to screw the coffin down, of course, of course--I was forgetting. Now, be quick about it. Why, do you know, I was very nearly having him buried with the coffin open! Screw away now, screw away. Ah, how that noise grates on my nerves. I shall go mad if you are not quick. Do be quick--be _quick_, and leave me alone with my dead. Oh, God, with my dead, my dead!" [Illustration: "HAVE MERCY UPON ME AND UPON MY DEAD."] The wretched woman's voice sank to a hoarse whisper. She struggled on to her knees, and folding her hands, began to pray. "God in Heaven have mercy upon me and upon my dead," she moaned. "Now, now, now! where's the screwdriver? Oh, _heavens_, it's lost, it's lost! We are undone! My God, what is the matter with me? My brain reels. Oh, my God, my God!" She moaned tearfully. We laid her back on the bed. Her mutterings became more rapid and indistinct. Presently she slept. "She must not be left in this condition," said Mackenzie to me. "It would be very bad for Gabrielle to be with her mother now. And those young servants are not to be trusted. I will go and send in a nurse as soon as possible. Can you do me the inestimable favour of remaining here until a nurse arrives?" "I was going to propose that I should, in any case, spend the night here," I replied. "That is more than good of you," said the doctor. "Not at all," I answered; "the case interests me extremely."