broke down; and when
Margaret flew to him and held him close in her arms and comforted him,
I heard him murmur brokenly:

"It looks as if you were dead, my child!"

There was a long silence. I could hear without the roar of the wind,
which was now risen to a tempest, and the furious dashing of the waves
far below. Mr. Trelawny's voice broke the spell:

"Later on we must try and find out the process of embalming. It is not
like any that I know. There does not seem to have been any opening cut
for the withdrawing of the viscera and organs, which apparently remain
intact within the body. Then, again, there is no moisture in the
flesh; but its place is supplied with something else, as though wax or
stearine had been conveyed into the veins by some subtle process. I
wonder could it be possible that at that time they could have used
paraffin. It might have been, by some process that we know not, pumped
into the veins, where it hardened!"

Margaret, having thrown a white sheet over the Queen's body, asked us
to bring it to her own room, where we laid it on her bed. Then she
sent us away, saying:

"Leave her alone with me. There are still many hours to pass, and I do
not like to leave her lying there, all stark in the glare of light.
This may be the Bridal she prepared for--the Bridal of Death; and at
least she shall wear her pretty robes."

When presently she brought me back to her room, the dead Queen was
dressed in the robe of fine linen with the embroidery of gold; and all
her beautiful jewels were in place. Candles were lit around her, and
white flowers lay upon her breast.

Hand in hand we stood looking at her for a while. Then with a sigh,
Margaret covered her with one of her own snowy sheets. She turned
away; and after softly closing the door of the room, went back with me
to the others who had now come into the dining room. Here we all began
to talk over the things that had been, and that were to be.

Now and again I could feel that one or other of us was forcing
conversation, as if we were not sure of ourselves. The long wait was
beginning to tell on our nerves. It was apparent to me that Mr.
Trelawny had suffered in that strange trance more than we suspected, or
than he cared to show. True, his will and his determination were as
strong as ever; but the purely physical side of him had been weakened
somewhat. It was indeed only natural that it should be. No man can go
through a period of fou