h you and did such fine
things was our Father Confessor."

The lady, who all her life long had held her honour dear, was
overwhelmed with despair, and laying aside all humanity and womanly
nature, besought her husband on her knees to avenge this foul wrong;
whereupon the gentleman immediately mounted his horse and went in
pursuit of the Friar.

The lady remained all alone in her bed, with no counsel or comfort near
her but her little newborn child. She reflected upon the strange and
horrible adventure that had befallen her, and, without making any excuse
for her ignorance, deemed herself guilty as well as the unhappiest woman
in the world. She had never learned aught of the Friars, save to have
confidence in good works, and seek atonement for sins by austerity of
life, fasting and discipline; she was wholly ignorant of the pardon
granted by our good God through the merits of His Son, the remission of
sins by His blood, the reconciliation of the Father with us through His
death, and the life given to sinners by His sole goodness and mercy; and
so, assailed by despair based on the enormity and magnitude of her sin,
the love of her husband and the honour of her house, she thought that
death would be far happier than such a life as hers. And, overcome by
sorrow, she fell into such despair that she was not only turned aside
from the hope which every Christian should have in God, but she forgot
her own nature, and was wholly bereft of common sense.

Then, overpowered by grief, and driven by despair from all knowledge of
God and herself, this frenzied, frantic woman took a cord from the bed
and strangled herself with her own hands.

And worse even than this, amidst the agony of this cruel death, whilst
her body was struggling against it, she set her foot upon the face
of her little child, whose innocence did not avail to save it from
following in death its sorrowful and suffering mother. While dying,
however, the infant uttered so piercing a cry that a woman who slept
in the room rose in great haste and lit the candle. Then, seeing her
mistress hanging strangled by the bed-cord, and the child stifled and
dead under her feet, she ran in great affright to the apartment of her
mistress's brother, and brought him to see the pitiful sight.

The brother, after giving way to such grief as was natural and fitting
in one who loved his sister with his whole heart, asked the serving-woman
who it was that had committed this terrible