THE TRUE MAID OF HONOUR. when Mrs. Evelyn came to visit them ; and every- thing seemed in hopeful condition, when suddenly a fever, which was raging that excessively hot autumn, attacked Mrs. Godolphin with virulence. Her husband at once wrote a note to Evelyn, which was delivered to him in church, on Sunday evening :- " My poor wife is fallen ill of a fever, with lightness in her head. You know who says the prayer of the faithful shall save the sick ; I humbly beg your charitable prayers for this poor creature and your distracted servant." " ®, how was I struck through as with a dart !' exclaims John Evelyn on receipt of this hurried missive. With his wife, he instantly " took boat," and hastened to Whitehall. They found Margaret dangerously ill, not quite delirious, for she knew most of those around her, but her fancy and temper were strangely disordered. Her agonies were very painful to her friends, and every remedy was ap- plied, but in vain, for the fever increased. The contest with death was terrible, until at length the following day, September 9, 1678, at one o'clock in the forenoon, exhausted and spent with her sufferings, she gently expired, her hand in that of her old friend. She was scarcely twenty-six, and had been married three brief years. Her husband, struck with unspeakable affliction, fell down as dead ; and Evelyn, himself, who had loved her as his own child, was filled with a grief beyond utterance. 41
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