interview with her husband, the ambassador was
summoned to her bedside. He was the representative of her native land,
and of the dear friends there she was never more to see. "She knew me,"
writes Fourquevaulx, "and said, 'You see me in the act of quitting this
vain world, to pass to a more pleasant kingdom; there, as I hope, to be
for ever with my God. Tell my mother, the queen, and the king, my
brother, to bear my death with patience, and to comfort themselves with
the reflection, that no happiness on earth has ever made me so content,
as the prospect now does of approaching my Creator. I shall soon be in a
better situation to do them service, and to implore God to take them and
my brothers under his holy protection. Beseech them, in my name, to
watch over their kingdom, that an end may be put to the heresies which
have spread there. And I will pray Heaven, in its mercy, to grant that
they may take my death with patience, and hold me for happy.'"[1564]

The ambassador said a few words of comfort, endeavoring to give her, if
possible, some hopes of life. But she answered, "You will soon know how
near I am to my end. God has given me grace to despise the world and its
grandeur, and to fix all my hopes on him and Jesus Christ. Never did a
thought occasion me less anxiety than that of death."

[Sidenote: HER OBSEQUIES.]

"She then listened to the exhortations of her confessor, remaining in
full possession of her consciousness, till a few minutes before her
death. A slight restlessness seemed to come over her, which soon
subsided, and she expired so tranquilly that it was impossible to fix
the moment when she gave up the ghost. Yet she opened her eyes once,
bright and glancing, and it seemed as if she would address me some
further commands,--at least, her looks were fixed on me."[1565]

Not long before Isabella's death, she was delivered of a daughter. Its
birth was premature, and it lived only to be baptized. The infant was
laid in the same coffin with its mother; and, that very evening, their
remains were borne in solemn procession to the royal chapel.[1566] The
tolling of the bells in the churches and monasteries throughout the city
announced the sad tidings to the people, who filled the air with their
cries, making everywhere the most passionate demonstrations of
grief;[1567] for the queen, says Brantome, "was regarded by them not
merely with feelings of reverence, but of idolatry."[1568]

In the chapel were gathe