Then she clasped her hands. She was already on her knees, and she prayed
first the great Exemplar's prayer, and then particularly for the man who
had wrecked her life, with all its hopes.
And as she prayed the lines in her face softened, and the lips lost
their hardness, and the fierce light passed utterly away from her eyes,
in which the lamp of Charity was once more lighted, and the tears formed
and rolled down her cheeks.
And still she prayed on, bathed in the pearly light from the summer sky
at night. Without, in the firmament, twinkled a star; and a night-bird
began to sing.
"And now, mother, pray for yourself."
Then she crossed her hands over her bosom, and bowed her head, full of
self-reproach and shame; and as she prayed, the spirit of her son raised
the White Flag above her and let it sail down softly, lightly over the
loved head, and as it descended there fell from it as it were a dew of
pale fire, and it rested on her head, and fell about her, and she sank
forward with her face upon the floor. R.I.P.