"She would not wish me to do anything that is so repugnant, so painful to me." "Have you no desire to look at her kind, placid face once more?" "I wish to remember it as in life,--not rigid and repulsive in death." "She looks so tranquil you would think she was sleeping." "No,--no! Don't ask me. I never saw but one corpse, and that was of a sailor drowned in mid ocean, and I shall never be able to forget its ghastliness and distortion as it lay on deck, under sickly moonshine." "Mrs. Gerome, you must follow Elsie's body to the grave. Believe that I have good reasons for this request, and grant it." She shook her head. "Your habits of seclusion have subjected you to uncharitable remarks, and your absence from the funeral would create more gossip than any woman can afford to give grounds for. There is a rumor that you are deranged, and the best refutation will be your quiet presence at the grave of your faithful nurse." She straightened herself, haughtily. "Seven years ago I turned my back upon the world, and scorned its verdict." "The men or women who defy public opinion invite social impalement, and rarely fail to merit the branding and opprobrium they invariably receive. Madam, I should imagine that to a nature so refined and shrinking as yours, almost any trial would seem slight in comparison with the certainty of becoming a target for sarcasm, pity, and malice, in every kitchen in the neighborhood. Permit my prudence to prevail over your reluctance to the step I have advised, and some day you will thank me for my persistency. You have time to make the proper changes in your dress, and, when the hour arrives, I will knock at your own door. My dear madam, do not delay." She rose, and began to replace the papers in the drawers of her desk, which she closed and locked. "Dr. Grey, why should you care if I am slandered?" "Because I am now your best friend, and must tell you frankly your foibles and dangers, and endeavor to guard you from the faintest breath of detraction." "I am very suspicious concerning the motives of all who come about me; and, at times, I have been so unjust as to ascribe even my poor Elsie's devotion to a desire to control my fortune for the benefit of herself and child. Do you expect me to trust you more implicitly than I ever trusted her?" "I shall make it impossible for you to doubt me. Come to your room. Elsie's few acquaintances will soon be here." Mrs. Gerome thrust the key of her desk into her pocket, but a moment after, when she drew out her handkerchief, it fell on the carpet, and without observing it, she passed swiftly across the hall, and into her own apartment. As Dr. Grey lingered to secure the door, his eye fell upon the silver key on the floor; and, placing it in his vest pocket, he rejoined Salome.