THE VIGIL
"Anche la Speme[17]
Ultima Dea, fugge i sepolchri e involve
Tutte cose l'Oblio nella sua notte."
Foscolo.—Dei Sepolcri. 16.
"Nus rein avoir grant joie
S'il n'en sueffre paine." (Pierre de Corbie.)
"The ghost in man, the ghost that once was man,
But cannot wholly free itself from man,
Are calling to each other thro' a dawn
Stranger than earth has ever seen—the veil
Is rending, and the voices of the day
Are heard across the voices of the dark."
Tennyson.
Delapine had been laid in the spare bedroom which had been partly altered into a sitting room and made as comfortable as possible. Madame Villebois had placed a small table just behind the head of the bed, and covered it with a white cloth. On it she devoutly placed a crucifix, together with a large wax candle on each side, which she gave directions should be kept burning all night. Two more candles were placed on small round tables at the foot of the bed.
"Now, my dear," said the good lady to her spouse, "I have turned the room into a little 'chapelle ardente.'"
Doctor Villebois nodded approval—but his mind turned to the practical rather than the spiritual needs of the professor.
"Let us put a stove in the room," he added, "so that it may be kept at a constant temperature of summer heat."
Renée insisted on sleeping in the room with a Sister of Mercy who had been called in to assist at the vigil during the night, while during the day Renée and Céleste agreed to take turns in watching.