Possible Clues:

• Ring somberly
• Girl heard something indicating death
• Mourning ring?
• Solemnly proclaim death of king and his mistress
• Sorrowful bell sound
• Ring Dickensian character put through the ear?
• Ring solemnly
• Somber toll
• 'The curfew tolls the __ of parting day...': Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
• It signifies death of Dickens's little girl on the radio