We found her body on the beach of a bay near at hand, whither much of
the wreckage had been carried. Her eyes were closed, but her countenance
showed perfect calm; only the pale violet of death blended itself upon
her cheeks with the rose of modesty. One of her hands was firmly closed.
I disengaged from it, with much difficulty, a little casket; within the
casket was a portrait of Paul--a gift from him which she had promised
never to part with while she lived.

Paul was taken home stretched on a palanquin. His coming brought a ray
of comfort to the unhappy mothers; the tears, which had been till then
restrained through excess of sorrow, now began to flow, and, nature
being thus relieved, all the three bereaved ones fell into a lethargic
repose.

It was three weeks ere Paul was sufficiently recovered to walk. For day
after day, when his strength was restored, he wandered among the places
endeared to him by memories of Virginia. His eyes grew hollow, his
colour faded, his health gradually but visibly declined. I strove to
mitigate his feelings by giving him change of scene, by taking him to
the busy inhabited parts of the island. My efforts proving quite
ineffectual, I tried to console him by reminding him that Virginia had
gained eternal happiness.

"Since death is a blessing, and Virginia is happy," he replied
mournfully, "I will die, also, that I may again be united to her."

Thus, the consolation I sought to administer only aggravated his
despair.

Paul died two months after his beloved Virginia, whose name was ever on