d to the castle, and a gallery of painting and
sculpture. Her father, King Rene, was a painter himself, and he amused
himself a great deal in painting pictures to add to his collection or
to give to his friends.

[Sidenote: Dreadful depression of spirits.]

But Margaret could take no interest in any of these things. Her mind
was all the time filled with bitter recollections of the past, which,
even if she did not cling to and cherish them, she could not dispel.
She dwelt continually upon thoughts of her husband and her child. She
made ceaseless efforts to obtain possession of their bodies, in order
that she might have them transported to Anjou, and, as she could not
succeed in this, she paid annually a considerable sum to secure the
services of priests to say masses over their graves in England, in
order to secure the repose of their souls.

[Sidenote: Its effects.]

Indeed, the anguish and agitation which continually reigned in her
heart preyed upon her like a worm in the centre of a flower. "Her
eyes, once so brilliant and expressive," says one of her historians,
"became hollow and dim, and permanently inflamed from continual
weeping." Indeed, the whole mass of her blood became corrupted, and a
fearful disease affected her once beautiful skin, making her an object
of commiseration to all who beheld her.

[Sidenote: Death of her father.]

She continued in this state until her father died. He, on his
death-bed, committed her to the care of an old and faithful friend,
who, after King Rene's decease, took her with him to his own castle of
Damprierre, which was situated about twenty-five miles farther up the
river.

[Sidenote: The closing scene.]

But, though Margaret was treated very kindly by the friend to whom
her father thus consigned her, she did not long survive this change.
She died, and was buried in the cathedral at Angers, and for centuries
afterward the ecclesiastics of the chapter, once every year, at the
return of the proper anniversary, performed a solemn ceremony over her
grave by walking round it with a slow and measured step, singing a
hymn.

THE END.

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