She was as much alive as you or I at this moment." "Madame, I left her dead!" said the old woman positively.
"Prudence, you did no such thing; you left her fainting, and in that state she was found and carried to the plague-pit." The old woman stood silent for a moment, with a face of intense horror, and then she clasped both hands with a wild cry.
"O my God! And they buried her alive--buried her alive in that dreadful plague-pit!" La Masque, leaning against a pillar, stood unmoved; and her voice, when she spoke, was as coldly sweet as modern ice-cream.
"Not exactly.

She was not buried at all, as I happen to know.

But when did you discover that she had the plague, and how could she possibly have caught it ?" "That I do not know, madam.

She seemed well enough all day, though not in such high spirits as a bride should be.

Toward evening she complained of a headache and a feeling of faintness; but I thought nothing of it, and helped her to dress for the bridal.