"I am dying--really dying--when I have my baby and you?" she questioned. "Oh, Hubert, is it really true?"
Nothing but his sobs answered her; dying as she was, all sweet, womanly compassion awoke in her heart.
"Hubert," she whispered--"oh, my darling, if you could come with me!--I want to see you kiss the baby while it lies here in my arms."
He bent down and kissed the tiny face, she watching him all the time.
"You will be very kind to her, darling, for my sake, because you have loved me so much, and call her by my name--Madaline. Tell her about me when she grows up--how young I was to die, how dearly I loved you, and how I held her in my arms. You will not forget?"
"No," he said, gently; "I shall not forget."
The hapless young mother kissed the tiny rosebud face, all the passion and anguish of her love shining in her dying eyes; and then the nurse carried the babe away.
"Hubert," said Lady Charlewood, in a low, soft, whisper, "may I die in your arms, darling?"
She laid her head on his breast, and looked at him with the sweet content of a little child.
"I am so young," she said, gently, "to die--to leave you Hubert. I have been so happy with you--I love you so much."