Another
excursion was to Lipizza, the Emperor of Austria's stud farm. It was
about two hours from Trieste, and the stables and park were full of herds
of thorough-bred mares, chiefly Hungarians and Croats. Lipizza was
always a favourite drive of the Burtons.
"Charley's" visit revived many memories of Damascus, and he was the
bearer of news from many friends there. He seemed to bring with him
"a breath from the desert," and they were loath to let him go. They
accompanied him to Venice, where he took his leave of them; and they
never saw him again. He died the following year at Jerusalem, at the
age of twenty-eight. He was buried in the English burial-ground on
Mount Zion, the place where they had all three sat and talked together
and picked flowers one afternoon three years before. It was largely
at his suggestion that Isabel determined to write her _Inner Life of
Syria_, and she unearthed her note-books and began to write the book
soon after he left. He was a great friend, almost a son to them, and
they both felt his loss bitterly.
About this time Maria Theresa, Contessa de Montelin, ex-Queen of Spain,
when she was on her death-bed, sent for Isabel, and charged her to keep
up, maintain, and promote certain pious societies which she had started
in Trieste. One of these was "The Apostleship of Prayer," whose members,
women, were to be active in doing good works, corporally and spiritually,
in Trieste.
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