But you see what it means now."

It was a great shock, it need not be concealed. Otherwise, she had been
quite pleasantly occupied with the interest of something new, into which
she had walked so easily out of her own bedchamber, without any trouble,
and with the delightful new sensation of health and strength. But when it
flashed upon her that she was not to go back to her bedroom again, nor
have any of those cares and attentions which had seemed necessary to
existence, she was very much startled and shaken. Died? Was it possible
that she personally had died? She had known it was a thing that happened
to everybody; but yet--And it was a solemn matter, to be prepared for,
and looked forward to, whereas--"If you mean that I too--" she said,
faltering a little; and then she added, "it is very surprising," with a
trouble in her mind which yet was not all trouble. "If that is so, it is
a thing well over. And it is very wonderful how much disturbance people
give themselves about it--if this is all."

"This is not all, however," her friend said; "you have an ordeal before
you which you will not find pleasant. You are going to think about your
life, and all that was imperfect in it, and which might have been done
better."

"We are none of us perfect," said Lady Mary, with a little of that
natural resentment with which one hears one's self accused,--however
ready one may be to accuse one's self.

"Permit me," said he, and took her hand and led her away without further
explanation. The people about were so busy with their own occupations
that they took very little notice; neither did she pay much attention to
the manner in which they were engaged. Their looks were friendly when
they met her eye, and she too felt friendly, with a sense of brotherhood.
But she had always been a kind woman. She wanted to step aside and help,
on more than one occasion, when it seemed to her that some people in her
way had a task above their powers; but this her conductor would not
permit. And she endeavored to put some questions to him as they went
along, with still less success.

"The change is very confusing," she said; "one has no standard to judge
by. I should like to know something about--the kind of people--and
the--manner of life."

"For a time," he said, "you will have enough to do, without troubling
yourself about that."

This naturally produced an uneasy sensation in her mind. "I suppose," she
said, rather timidly, "that we are no