The eyes of all began to be fixed on them, as soon as their own
agitation and the bustle of the attendants had somewhat abated. Miss
Vere kneeled beside the tomb of her mother, to whose statue her features
exhibited a marked resemblance. She held the hand of the Dwarf,
which she kissed repeatedly and bathed with tears. He stood fixed and
motionless, excepting that his eyes glanced alternately on the marble
figure and the living suppliant. At length, the large drops which
gathered on his eye-lashes compelled him to draw his hand across them.
"I thought," he said, "that tears and I had done; but we shed them at
our birth, and their spring dries not until we are in our graves. But no
melting of the heart shall dissolve my resolution. I part here, at once,
and for ever, with all of which the memory" (looking to the tomb), "or
the presence" (he pressed Isabella's hand), "is dear to me.--Speak not
to me! attempt not to thwart my determination! it will avail nothing;
you will hear of and see this lump of deformity no more.
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