ceased to
urge our marriage. Who could say that I might not be fascinating enough
to hold him? It was worth the trial, and I despised myself for laying
down my arms without a struggle.

"I took the Oriental express from Budapest, but during the journey,
swift as it was, I underwent certain reactions. I knew that he must have
left Munich, that all I could do was to take a letter to his bank and
ask that it be forwarded. I wrote the letter as soon as I arrived, but
decided to post it; my pride revolted at facing the sharp eye of the
person that handled the letters of credit. I had gone to the bank with
Prestage more than once.

"As soon as the letter was posted I experienced a certain measure of
peace, having done all I could. Nevertheless, to sit still was
impossible, and I set out for a walk. It was one of those brilliant
clear crisp days with which that high plateau can put even California to
the blush. I saw that all the tram-cars were crowded, and that carriage
loads of people had flower pieces. I asked if it were a Feiertag and was
reminded that it was the 1st of November, All Saints' Day; Munich was on
its way to the several cemeteries to decorate the graves. I had seen All
Saints' Day in Venice and felt a mild curiosity to compare the Bavarian
festival with the Italian. So I walked out to the great Alt Sud Friedhof
where so many celebrities are buried, and where I fancied the scene
would be most complete. When I arrived at the entrance the frames that
had been set up in the outer court were almost denuded of the flower
pieces the countrywomen had brought in to sell, but I bought a wreath at
the solicitation of a peasant in a picturesque head-dress, and followed
the crowd. The cemetery is on three sides of the entrance and enclosed
by a high brick wall. I stood a moment at the inner official entrance,
hardly knowing which way to turn; but seeing a number of staring people
in a corridor on my right that faced one great division of the cemetery,
I was turning into it mechanically when a policeman waved me back with
the information that the entrance was at the other end. But not until I
had seen, stared, and gasped. In an alcove was a figure, almost upright,
that, in the first dazed seconds I took to be a wax-work, but
immediately knew to be a dead woman. As I almost ran out I recalled that
in Bavaria the dead are taken from the house within six hours, and are
kept in a public mortuary for three days, or until all da