se loss I weep, proportioned to the unending grief into which his
loss has plunged me. I care not what it costs. I am rich, and I will
willingly sacrifice all my fortune to do honor to the memory of an
adored husband. I must have a temple--with columns--in marble--and in
the middle--on a pedestal--his statue."

"I will do my best to fulfil your wishes, madam," replied the artist;
"but I had not the honor of acquaintance with the deceased, and a
likeness of him is indispensable for the due execution of my work.
Without doubt, you have his portrait?"

The widow raised her arm and pointed despairingly to a splendid likeness
painted by Amaury Duval.

"A most admirable picture!" observed the artist, "and the painter's name
is a sufficient guarantee for its striking resemblance to the original."

"Those are his very features, sir; it is himself. It wants but life. Ah!
would that I could restore it to him at the cost of all my blood!"

"I will have this portrait carried to my studio, madam, and I promise
you that the marble shall reproduce it exactly."

The widow, at these words, sprung up, and at a single bound throwing
herself towards the picture, with arms stretched out as though to defend
it, exclaimed, "Take away this portrait! carry off my only consolation!
my sole remaining comfort! never! never!"

"But madam, you will only be deprived of it for a short time, and--"

"Not an hour! not a minute! could I exist without his beloved image!
Look you, sir, I have had it placed here, in my own room, that my eyes
might be fastened upon it, without ceasing, and through my tears. His
portrait shall never leave this spot one single instant, and in
contemplating _that_ will I pass the remainder of a miserable and
sorrowful existence."

"In that case, madam, you will be compelled to permit me to take a copy
of it. But do not be uneasy--I shall not have occasion to trouble your
solitude for any length of time: one sketch--one sitting will suffice."

The widow agreed to this arrangement; she only insisted that the artist
should come back the following day. She wanted him to set to work on the
instant, so great was her longing to see the mausoleum erected. The
sculptor, however, remarked that he had another work to finish first.
This difficulty she sought to overcome by means of money.

"Impossible!" replied the artist, "I have given my word; but do not
distress yourself; I will apply to it so diligently, that the monument
s