"It is all a fancy, my dear," I said to her. "There is nothing more
terrible in this than in any other death. On the contrary, I can hardly
imagine a less fearful one. A big wave falls on the man's head and stuns
him, and without further suffering he floats gently out on the sea of the
unknown."

"But it is so terrible for those left behind!"

"Had you seen the face of his widow, so gentle, so loving, so resigned in
its pallor, you would not have thought it so _terrible_."

But though she always seemed satisfied, and no doubt felt nearly so, after
any conversation of the sort, yet every night she would call out once and
again, "O, that sea, out there!" I was very glad indeed when Mr. Turner,
who had arranged to spend a short holiday with us, arrived.

He was concerned at the news I gave him of the shock both Connie and her
mother had received, and counselled an immediate change, that time might,
in the absence of surrounding associations, obliterate something of the
impression that had been made. The consequence was, that we resolved to
remove our household, for a short time, to some place not too far off to
permit of my attending to my duties at Kilkhaven, but out of the sight and
sound of the sea. It was Thursday when Mr. Turner arrived, and he spent the
next two days in inquiring and looking about for a suitable spot to which
we might repair as early in the week as possible.

On the Saturday the blacksmith was busy in the church-tower, and I went in
to see how he was getting on.