Some of the weeping servants had assembled, and knelt about in little groups.

The tall candles on the altar were lit, and Father Paul, clad in mourning priestly vestments, prayed there in silence.

The storm of rain and wind still raged without, and the windows of the chapel shook and rattled with the violence of the tempest.
A distant clock struck ONE! with a deep clang that echoed throughout the house.

I shuddered.

So short a time had elapsed since Zara had been alive and well; now, I could not bear to think that she was gone from me for ever.