"Has Brotherton come back?" demanded the Marchioness.
"Dear mamma!" said Lady Sarah;—and she went up and knelt down before her mother and took her hand.
"Where is he?" asked the Marchioness.
"Dear mamma! He has gone away,—beyond all trouble."
"Who has gone away?"
"Brotherton is—dead, mamma. This is a telegram from George." The old woman looked bewildered, as though she did not as yet quite comprehend what had been said to her. "You know," continued Lady Sarah, "that he was so ill that we all expected this."
"Expected what?"
"That my brother could not live."
"Where is George? What has George done? If George had gone to him——. Oh me! Dead! He is not dead! And what has become of the child?"
"You should think of Mary, mamma."