Agnes kneeling and offering her heart to the virgin; but this effigy had
been removed before the late troubles: a heart of white marble, which
was at the foot of the tomb, had also disappeared. According to the
annals of the abbey, they were destroyed by the Huguenots. The tomb
itself, with various brasses inlaid upon it, remained undisturbed till
the period of the revolution, when the whole memorial was removed, and
even her remains were not suffered to rest in peace. The slab of black
marble which covered them, and which bore upon its edges the French
inscription to her memory, is still in existence; though it has changed
its place and destination. The barbarians who pillaged the convent sold
it with the rest of the plunder; and it now serves as a threshold to a
house near the Mont aux Malades, at Rouen[17]. The inscription, which is
cut in very elegant Gothic characters, is as follows: a part of it is,
however, at present hidden by its position:--"Cy gist Agnes Surelle,
noble damoiselle, en son vivant Dame de Roqueferriere, de Beaulté,
d'Yssouldun, et de Vernon sur Seine, piteuse entre toutes gens, qui de
ses biens donnoit largement aux gens d'église et aux pauvres; qui
trespassa le neuvieme jour de Fevrier, l'an de grace 1449.--Priez Dieu
pour elle."--It is justly to be regretted, that some pains are not taken
for the preservation of this relic, which even now would be an ornament
to the cathedral.--The manor-house at Mesnil, where the fair lady died,
still retains its chimneys of the fifteenth century; and ancient
paintings are discernible on the walls.

The monument in the church of St. Peter, generally known by the name of
_le tombeau des énervez_, was of still greater singularity. It was an
altar-tomb, raised about two feet above the pavement; and on the slabs
were carved whole-length figures, in alto-relievo, of two boys, each
about sixteen years of age, in rich attire, and ornamented with diadems,
broaches, and girdles, all copiously studded with precious stones.