Page:Marie Corelli - the writer and the woman (IA mariecorelliwrit00coat).pdf/279

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  • ment unless he parts with Manuel, and the Cardinal's

dignified and argumentative reply. The two part, but it is not at the bidding of the Pope. There is a beautiful description of the last night on earth of the Cardinal and of a vision beheld by him—a Dream of Angels, "Of thousands of dazzling faces, that shone like stars or were fair as flowers!"

So the Cardinal passes away to his eternal rest:


"And when the morning sun shone through the windows . . . its wintry beams encircled the peaceful form of the dead Cardinal with a pale halo of gold,—and when they came and found him there, and turned his face to the light—it was as the face of a glorified saint, whom God had greatly loved!"

And of the "Cardinal's foundling"—what of Him? Many wondered and sought to trace Him, but no one ever heard where he had gone. . . . Some say He has never disappeared,—but that in some form or manifestation of wisdom, He is ever with us, watching to see whether His work is well or ill done,—whether His flocks are fed, or led astray to be devoured by wolves—whether His straight and simple commands are fulfilled or disobeyed. And the days grow dark and threatening—and life is more and more beset with difficulty and disaster—and the world is moving more and more swiftly on to its predestined end—and the Churches are as stagnant pools, from whence Death