FAREWELL AT ONCE, FOR ONCE, FOR ALL, AND EVER
Richard II., ii. 2.
Although Ashe had said that he should not go again to the
poverty-stricken dwelling of Mrs. Murphy, he found himself a few days
later beside her bed. Word had been brought to him that she was dying,
and that she begged to see him before her death. There was no resisting
a call like this, and on a gloomy afternoon he had gone down to the
dingy court, torn by memories and worn with inward struggles.
He found the old woman almost speechless with weakness. The room was
more comfortable, and he knew that Maurice had been at work. The
slatternly girl was in attendance, and there was also the
pleasant-faced priest whom Philip and Maurice had encountered in the
court. The priest had come with an acolyte to administer the last
rites, and the woman had made her confession. So intent, however, was
Mrs. Murphy upon the purpose for which she had summoned Ashe that she
cried out to him as he entered, and apparently for the moment forgot
all else.