And next the funeral scene rose before him, and the
prominent part that he had taken in that solemn ceremony. The
captain had come to him, requesting him to officiate, as there was
no chaplain on board. This he had agreed to do; and as the sun went
down with a blaze in his face he read amidst them all assembled:
'We therefore commit her body to the deep, to be turned into
corruption, looking for the resurrection of the body when the sea
shall give up her dead.'
The captain also forwarded the addresses of the ship's matron and of
other persons who had been engaged on board at the date. To these
Alwyn went in the course of time. A categorical description of the
clothes of the dead truant, the colour of her hair, and other
things, extinguished for ever all hope of a mistake in identity.
At last, then, the course of events had become clear. On that
unhappy evening when he left Emmeline in the shrubbery, forbidding
her to follow him because it would be a sin, she must have
disobeyed. She must have followed at his heels silently through the
darkness, like a poor pet animal that will not be driven back. She
could have accumulated nothing for the journey more than she might
have carried in her hand; and thus poorly provided she must have
embarked. Her intention had doubtless been to make her presence on
board known to him as soon as she could muster courage to do so.
Thus the ten years' chapter of Alwyn Hill's romance wound itself up
under his eyes.
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