"And as she put the cross round my neck, which she took from her own, she kissed me on the lips. Her touch was like an angel's touch.
"Then she said, pointing to the posy which had been gathered in the woods by her husband and her child:
"'Give me those flowers, you faithful woman.'
"Do not think me vain or proud for repeating the words she spoke to me. They were very, very precious to me, and the sweetness has not died out of them, though she who uttered them is dust.
"I gave her the flowers, and she held them to her heart, and encouraged me to sit with her later than usual. Two or three times in the midst of our conversation, she asked me to go to Master Christian's room to see if he was asleep, and when I told her he was sleeping beautifully, and that he looked like an angel, she smiled, and thanked me.
"'He will grow into a noble man,' she said, 'and will, I trust, think of me with tenderness. I often look forward and wonder what his life will be.'
"'A happy one, I am sure,' I said.
"'I pray that it may be so, and that he will meet with a woman who will truly and faithfully love him.'
"Then she asked me if there was a light in her husband's study, and going out into the balcony to look, I said there was, and said, moreover, that my master often sat up the whole night through, reading and studying.
"'You have been in his service a long time, Denise,' said my lady.