HAUNTED HOUSES

The Marshal's suffering increased every day. He could no longer lie down but remained constantly in an armchair.

One morning at dawn my husband—who was entirely paralyzed due to the use of morphine original: "morphia" and could not move without the help of several assistants—suddenly rose alone. He stood strong and upright, and in a voice more powerful than he had ever possessed in his life, he cried out into the silence of the night: "Let an orderly officer mount his horse and ride to the El Pardo The text reads "Prado," but refers to the Royal Palace of El Pardo, where the King was staying; the King is dead!"

He fell back exhausted into his chair. We all assumed he was experiencing delirium and rushed to give him a calming medicine. He dozed off, but a few minutes later he rose again. With a weak and almost ghostly original: "sepulchral" voice, he said: "My uniform, my sword; the King is dead!" It was his last flicker of life. After receiving the last sacrament and the Pope's blessing, he died. Alfonso XII The original text erroneously reads "Alphonse II," but Alfonso XII (1857–1885) was the monarch who died at the same time as Serrano died without those spiritual comforts.

This sudden vision of the King's death by a dying man is a true account. The next morning, all of Madrid learned with shock original: "consternation" of the death of the King, who had been almost alone at El Pardo.

The royal body was brought to Madrid. Because of this, Serrano could not receive the funeral honors he had been promised. It is a well-known custom that when the King is in his palace at Madrid, all honors are reserved solely for him—even after his death—for as long as his body remains there.

Was it the King himself who appeared to my husband? How did he learn the news? This provides significant matter for reflection.

Here we have a man at the point of death, doubly disabled by the use of morphine, announcing an unexpected death unknown to anyone else. Here again, how can we escape the conclusion that his soul, his spirit, perceived in some way what had happened?