Not once did her gaze leave her husband's casket, though at times it seemed she might buckle and succumb to the paralysing agony of it all.
Some among the crowd lowered their heads as the procession passed. Mostly out of respect. But also because it felt somehow indecent to bear close witness to this woman's torturous suffering.
Only two weeks ago, Rute Cardoso and Liverpool's Diogo Jota, both 28, exchanged wedding vows before family and friends. No more perfect celebration of their happiness, they said, could be devised. Diogo declared himself supremely lucky.
Now Rute, dressed in white, was helping to carry the man with the magical feet and joyful heart to his grave.
He was killed along with his brother Andre Silva, 25, after the Lamborghini they were travelling in crashed and burst into flames on a Spanish highway in the early hours of Thursday morning.
At the end of their joint funeral service, Schubert's Ave Maria, which was played at Jota's wedding, drifted from the small baroque church in Gondomar, near Porto, northern Portugal.
A deep bell began slowly tolling. Supported by her sister, Rute's fingers clung to the underside of her husband's coffin as it was carried across the courtyard. When it seemed she might falter, she closed her eyes and rested her forehead fleetingly on the casket lid, wet from her tears.
Family and friends, including footballers who flew in from all corners of the globe, had gathered in the 17th-century Igreja Matriz church and heard the Bishop of Porto, D. Manuel Linda, send a message to the couple's three children – sons Dinis, four, Duarte, two, and eight-month-old baby daughter Mafalda.
The bishop said: 'At this moment you are suffering immensely or perhaps not because you do not realise it. The ones who suffer a lot are your mother and your grandparents.
'Seeing the mortal remains of a child must be a greater torment, but when there are two urns there are no words...
'If it is difficult to see an adult cry, it is even more difficult to see a child cry. I send you a special greeting for your mother and grandparents.'
Like Rute, Jota's parents, Joaquim and Isabel Silva, were still basking in the wedding afterglow when they got the news that their two sons had died.
'That poor couple. Only because of the grandchildren will they find the strength to carry on,' said a family friend, expressing the sentiments of many.
Both coffins were carried through the front doors of the church to the sound of violins and applause in a procession led by two priests at 10am.
Jota's Liverpool team-mates flew in overnight. They included Virgil van Dijk, the club's captain, and Andrew Robertson, who carried red wreaths in the shape of football shirts emblazoned with Jota's number 20 and his brother's number 30. Former Liverpool players, including Jordan Henderson and James Milner, were also present.
Jota and his brother were 190 miles into a trip from Porto to Santander, where he planned to take a ferry to England, when they crashed in the Spanish province of Zamora.
Many of Jota's Portugal team-mates also attended, including Ruben Neves, who flew in after playing for his club Al Hilal in their Club World Cup match against Fluminense in Orlando, US, to be a pallbearer.
The church was so packed with mourners that about a hundred guests had to listen to the service while milling around outside. One couple clung to each other for its entire duration.
Thousands of the town's residents, many wearing Liverpool or Portugal colours, gathered on all sides of the church grounds to hear the eulogies before the brothers were laid to rest in the Sao Cosme cemetery a short walk away.
Their bodies were buried, not cremated, in a graveyard screened by olive trees. Jota's team-mates from his former club Wolves, including Joao Moutinho and Rui Patricio, joined club officials to pay their respects. Jota joined the West Midlands club in 2017 before leaving for Liverpool in 2020.
They were spotted escorting a Wolves-themed wreath which read: 'Diogo your desire to fight and win lit up Molineux.'
The one-hour service ended with the couple's wedding singer performing Ave Maria.
Alexandra Quinta e Costa sang the emotional piece before the coffins were carried away to the Sao Cosme cemetery nearby.
Costa had performed at Jota and his wife Rute's wedding just 11 days earlier as part of the Lapa Polyphonic Choir.
In an Instagram post the singer shared an emotional tribute alongside the couple's wedding photo and a black and white picture of Jota and Silva.
She wrote: '15 days ago I sang on one of the happiest days of your lives. Today sang at your farewell. What a world we live in. Sincere condolences to the whole family at this time of such a painful loss.'
Speaking after the service, Roberto Martinez, the Portugal manager, was emotional as he told of his sadness over the tragedy. He said: 'I can only say that these are very, very sad days.
'Today was a demonstration for Diogo and Andre that we are all together and that we are Portugal.
'Now, I would like to thank everyone for their presence, for all the messages from all over the world. We are with Andre Silva and Diogo Jota. Always, always with us.'