His will relaxed utterly. Softly Christophe closed his eyes. Tears of happiness trickled down from his closed lids. The little girl who was looking after him, unknown to him, piously wiped them away. He lost all consciousness of what was happening. The orchestra had ceased playing, leaving him on a dizzy harmony, the riddle of which could not be solved. His brain went on saying:
"But what chord is that? How am I to get out of it? I should like to find the way out, before the end…."
Voices were raised now. A passionate voice. Anna's tragic eyes…. But a moment and it was no longer Anna. Eyes now so full of kindness…. "Grazia, is it thou?… Which of you? Which of you? I cannot see you clearly…. Why is the sun so long in coming?"
Then bells rang tranquilly. The sparrows at the window chirped to remind him of the hour when he was wont to give them the breakfast crumbs…. In his dream Christophe saw the little room of his childhood…. The bells. Now it is dawn! The lovely waves of sound fill the light air. They come from far away, from the villages down yonder…. The murmuring of the river rises from behind the house…. Once more Christophe stood gazing down from the staircase window. All his life flowed before his eyes, like the Rhine. All his life, all his lives, Louisa, Gottfried, Olivier, Sabine….
"Mother, lovers, friends…. What are these names?… Love…. Where are you? Where are you, my souls? I know that you are there, and I cannot take you."
"We are with thee. Peace, O beloved!"
"I will not lose you ever more. I have sought you so long!"
"Be not anxious. We shall never leave thee more."
"Alas! The stream is bearing me on."
"The river that bears thee on, bears us with thee."