His form
also was bowed, and his countenance bore traces of the deepest
grief.
One of those sudden changes which we so often experience in this our
most changeful climate, took place that day. At noon it was very
warm and bright, but before we returned from the funeral it was
cloudy and cold.
The next day Mrs. B. was quite sick with severe cold, and the
effects of the past excitement and grief. We flattered ourselves
that rest and quiet, with good nursing, would soon restore her; and
you may judge of our dismay upon learning, the day after, that she
was dangerously ill.
"Oh no," we thought and said a hundred times, "it cannot be so; she
will surely be better to-morrow."
We could not have it otherwise. We could not for an instant admit
the idea that she would not recover. The bare supposition was agony.
Oh! how harrowing to me is the remembrance of those long summer
days, and those wakeful moonlight nights, in which, prostrated by
disease, lay that young and lovely being so idolized by us all, but
whom, indeed, we were destined to see no more on earth.
The Divine fiat had gone forth, and hearts were agonized, and looks
grew sadder and sadder, as day after day sounded like a knell in our
ears the fearful words, "Not materially better.
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