lack of sulphur, and the speculation promised to be a
remunerative one. Eventually, however, it was found that the obstacles
were insuperable, and the scheme had to be abandoned. However, the
trip had completed the cure commenced by Camoens, and at the end of it
everybody said "he looked at least fifteen years younger."

Burton had scarcely left Granton for Iceland before Mrs. Arundell
died, and the letters which Mrs. Burton wrote at this time throw an
interesting light on the relations between her and Burton's family. To
Miss Stisted she says (June 14th), "My darling child. My dear mother
died in my arms at midnight on Wednesday 5th. It was like a child going
to sleep, most happy, but quite unexpected by us, who thought, though
sinking, she would last till August or October. I need not tell you, who
know the love that existed between her and me, that my loss is bitter
and irreparable, and will last for life. May you never know it! I have
written pages full of family detail to darling Nana, and I intended to
enclose it to you to read en route, but I thought perhaps our religious
views and observances might seem absurd to the others, and I felt
ashamed to do so. You know when so holy a woman as dear mother dies, we
do not admit of any melancholy or sorrow except for ourselves Your dear
little letter was truly welcome with its kind and comforting messages. I
am glad that our darling [Burton] was spared all the sorrow we have gone
through, and yet sorry he did not see the beauty and happiness of her
holy death... She called for Richard twice before her death. Do write
again and often, dear child. Tell me something about the Iceland
visits.... Your loving Zooey."

What with the unsatisfactory condition of their affairs, and the death
of her mother, Mrs. Burton was sadly troubled; but the long lane was
now to have a turning. One day, while she was kneeling with wet cheeks
before her mother's coffin, and praying that the sombrous overhanging
cloud might pass away, a letter arrived from Lord Granville offering
her husband the Consulate of Trieste [261] with a salary of L700 a year.
This was a great fall after Damascus, but in her own words, "better than
nothing," and she at once communicated with her husband, who was still
in Iceland.

70. Wardour Castle, 5th July 1872.

She then made a round of country house visits, including one to Wardour
Castle. [262] In an unpublished letter to Miss Stisted, she says: "My
pet,