Holy Virgin! how helpless a woman is." She began to weep afresh, and the duchess tried to soothe her.
"I believe I will pray to the Virgin.

She may help us," said the girl, in a voice that was plaintively childlike.
"It is a pious thought, Mary," answered the duchess.
Yolanda slipped from the divan to the floor, and, kneeling, buried her face in her mother's lap.

She prayed aloud:-- "Blessed Virgin, Thou seest my dire need.

Help me.

My prayer is short, but Thou, Blessed Lady, knowest how fervent it is." The duchess crossed herself, bowed her head, and murmured a fervent "Amen." Yolanda rose from her prayer with a brighter face, and exclaimed almost joyfully:-- "It was impious in me to doubt God's love, mother.