r the Lord."

The greatest trial in her life was now approaching the duchess. He who
had been her support and joy for so many years was to be taken from her.
On the 27th of May, 1836, she was told by the doctors that the duke had
only a short time to live. The terrible news was of course overwhelming,
but she knew whither to turn. "I had not realised till then the
hopelessness of the case. I retired to another room and fell on my
knees; and as if they had been audibly uttered, these words were
impressed upon my heart, 'Thy Maker is thy Husband; the Lord of hosts is
His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole
earth shall He be called,' and I rose up to meet the trial in His
strength." The next day the duke died. Full proof was given of the
sufficiency of God to support His servants in their darkest hours. Two
days afterwards she wrote--"I must tell you of the blessed consolation I
have in thinking of the perfect peace which my beloved husband enjoyed
uninterruptedly, and the presence of the Comforter from the Father and
the Son to my own soul. Pray for me. Although I feel indeed in the
wilderness, yet like her who was led there, I would desire to lean on
the arm of the Beloved One, who has truly given to me 'the valley of
Achor for a door of hope,' and who is a very present help in time of
trouble. The comfort I have is at present almost without alloy. It is
only when earthly things pull me from my resting-place that I see the
desolation of all earthly joys; and yet I am not excited, out as the
Lord has enabled me to stay my mind on Him, He has kept me in perfect
peace." When the beloved remains were removed into their last
resting-place in Elgin Cathedral, she dedicated herself afresh to God.
"When the coffin was lowered into that vault, I felt as if God had
shoved under my feet all that was most dear to me, the only one on earth
to whose love I was entitled, and that now I must live to
Himself alone."

After her husband's death her wish was to return at once to Huntly
Lodge, where she had spent the first years of her married life, and
which was now hers by the marriage settlement. But a lease which the
tenant was unwilling to resign prevented this for a time. Accordingly
she made up her mind to travel abroad for some months. During the
winter of 1836 she lived at Pau. The return home was made the following
summer. Naturally she dreaded coming back to the now desolate home--the
same place,