Now even this was denied me;
she had been torn away; a man had eloped with her even before I was
laid under the sod. He was alone with her on the other side of the wall,
comforting her--embracing her, perhaps!
But the door opened once more, and heavy footsteps shook the floor.
"Quick, make haste," repeated Mme Gabin. "Get it done before the lady
comes back."
She was speaking to some strangers, who merely answered her with uncouth
grunts.
"You understand," she went on, "I am not a relation; I'm only a
neighbor. I have no interest in the matter. It is out of pure good
nature that I have mixed myself up in their affairs. And I ain't
overcheerful, I can tell you. Yes, yes, I sat up the whole blessed
night--it was pretty cold, too, about four o'clock. That's a fact. Well,
I have always been a fool--I'm too soft-hearted."
The coffin had been dragged into the center of the room. As I had
not awakened I was condemned. All clearness departed from my ideas;
everything seemed to revolve in a black haze, and I experienced such
utter lassitude that it seemed almost a relief to leave off hoping.
"They haven't spared the material," said one of the undertaker's men in
a gruff voice. "The box is too long.
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