We will
draw a veil over that meeting. She then went on to London and stayed at
the Langham Hotel, intending to remain there a few days until she could
find a lodging. At the Langham her three sisters were waiting for her.
Two days after her arrival in London, Lady Burton went to see about
a monument to her husband. This monument has been already described,
and it is unnecessary to repeat the description at any length here.
Suffice it to say that it is a tomb, shaped like an Arab tent, of dark
Forest of Dean stone, lined inside with white Carrara marble. The
tent is surmounted by a large gilt star, and over the flap door is a
white marble crucifix. The fringe is composed of gilt crescents and
stars. The door supports an open book of white marble: on one page
is an inscription to Sir Richard Burton; the opposite page was then
left blank. Lady Burton had the tomb fitted up with an altar and
other accessories, so as to make it as much like a _chapelle ardente_
as possible, while preserving its Eastern character. There was room
in the tent for two coffins, those of her husband and herself. Finding
that her purse was too slender to carry out this somewhat elaborate
design, Lady Burton was encouraged by her friends to ask for a
public subscription, with the result that she received the greater
part of the money, but the appeal was not responded to as it might
have been.
She found that, owing to the state of the weather, the monument could
not be completed for some months, but she selected the site in Mortlake
Cemetery, the spot which she and her husband had chosen many years
before, and had the ground pegged out.
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