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RECOLLECTIONS OF CHILDHOOD 85
At the sound of that name, accursed by all devout
servants of the Church, the timid nuns make the sign
of the cross in terror. But the priest says:
" My daughter, on earth thou hast loved a great
sinner. King Harold is cursed by our holy universal
mother, the Catholic Church, and there is no
forgiveness for him forever; he must burn forever in the
fires of hell. But God has seen thy deeds of piety for
many years. He has valued thy repentance and thy
tears. Go in peace. In the heavenly habitations
another, a deathless bridegroom, awaits thee." The
sunken, wax-like cheeks of the dying woman
suddenly become crimson. A passionate, feverish light
flashes up in her eyes, which seem to have faded out
long ago.
" I want no paradise without Harold!" she cries, to
the horror of all the nuns who are present. " If
Harold is not forgiven, let not God summon me to his
habitation!"
The nuns stand silent, rooted to the spot with horror,
but Edith, rising from her bed with supernatural
strength, throws herself on her knees before the
crucifix.
" Great God!" she cries, with her broken, hardly
human voice, "for one moment of thy Son’s
suffering thou hast removed from all mankind the seal of
original sin. But I have been dying every day for
twenty years, dying every hour a slow death of
torture. Thou hast seen, thou knowest my sufferings.
If I have deserved anything in thy sight through
them, forgive Harold! Show me a sign before I die.
When we recite ’Our Father,’ let the candle which
stands before the crucifix light of itself; then shall I
know that Harold is forgiven."
The priest recites the "Our Father." He utters
every word solemnly, distinctly. The nuns, both
6*
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