“Oh, if I could die, and be hidden and at rest with you !” Her lips murmured the words close on the gravestone, murmured them in tones of passionate endearment, to the dead remains beneath. “ You know how I love your child, for your sake! Oh, Mrs. Fairlie! Mrs. Fairlie! tell me how to save her. Be my darling and my mother once more, and tell me what to do for the best.”

I heard her lips kissing the stone⁠—I saw her hands beating on it passionately. The sound and the sight deeply affected me. I stooped down, and took the poor helpless hands tenderly in mine, and tried to soothe her.