After
losing my husband this is the worst that could have happened to
me--the violation of his sacred tomb. Had I only hearkened to my own
misgiving about the miscreant! Yet I wonder you did not wait till the
morning before telling me.'
'Wait till the morning?' I said, forgetting that she did not know
what was at my heart.
'Doubtless the matter is important, Henry,' said she. 'Still, the
mischief is done, the hideous crime has been committed, and the news
of it could have waited till morning.'
'But, mother, unless my father's words are idle breath, it is
important, most important, that the amulet should again be buried
with him. I meant to go to the sands in the morning and wait for the
ebbing tide--I meant to take the cross from the breast of the dead
man, and to replace it in my father's coffin. That, mother, was what
I meant to do. But I am too ill to move; I feel that in an hour or
so, or in a few minutes, I shall be delirious. And then, mother! Oh,
_then_!--'My mother looked astonished at my vehemence upon the
subject.
'Henry,' she said, 'I had no idea that you felt such an interest in
the matter; I have certainly misjudged your character entirely.
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