The Death of Mallards. After Mrs. Mallard imagines her new life and walks down the stairs "Someone opened the door with a key. It was Brentley Mallard, who entered, a little travel-stained, quietly carrying his purse and umbrella. He was far from the scene of the accident, and I didn't even know there had been one” (58) When he enters, Mrs. Mallard dies. The moment of Mrs. Mallard's death is also a symbol of the literal and physical end of her new found freedom. All the characters in Chopin's story believe that Mrs. Mallard died of happiness, but the clues throughout the story lead the reader to the true cause of death. Dramatic irony, such as "when the doctors came, they said she died of heart disease - joy that kills" (58) brings the reader back to the quality of the Mallards' relationship and really sparks the interest in deciphering the