XX.
The fourth day after this event the remains of the old baroness were brought in a pompous procession to Rades̓ín, and laid by the side of her husband in the family vault, to take her last long sleep. The funeral was very grand, as became the rank and station of the departed, but not sad; for, except her own two children, nobody shed a tear. No end of people came from far and near to see the sight; but their attention was not so much taken up by the melancholy ceremony as by another circumstance. At the head of the funeral procession went, not the priest of Rades̓ín, the oldest and therefore the first representative of the clergy on the estate, but father Cvok of Záluz̓í. This was done by the express wish of the baron himself; and though our friend, from his natural modesty, opposed this arrangement, he was yet obliged to undertake the task; because his other colleagues, out of deference to their patron, made way for him, with apparent willingness, but not without some secret envy. There were as many whisperings and remarks upon the matter as there are leaves in a wood.
Spinster Regina was so excited by it that she was not able to pray one single Paternoster. “Fine order there will be on the estate now!” she said snappishly to the
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