midday
So much Alice saw ; blind meanwhile to the tragic irony of this piteous stress laid at such a moment , by one so lawless , on the social law ! Thenceforward the poor sufferer was touchingly gentle and amenable . Morphia had been given her liberally , and the relief was great . When the nurses came at midday , however , the pulse had already begun to fail . They could do nothing ; and though within call , they left her mainly to those who loved her . In the early afternoon she asked suddenly for the Communion , and Meynell administered it . The three women who were watching her received it with her .