She mused silently a moment, then added:
“It will be good news for her father. He can die easier.”
“You are sure that he must die, dear mother?”
“You will not doubt it when you see him, Arthur; and the physician does not hold out any hope, though he thinks that the end may be lingering.”
She spoke with the steady calmness of despair, and her son looked at her with uneasy eyes, wondering how she felt, how she was bearing it.
Perhaps she read his thoughts, for she said quickly:
“Go to him as soon as you can, dear. Perhaps it may give him some pleasure to see you by him now. Be kind and tender—for the sake of old days.”
“And you, mother?”
“I have done what I could—for duty’s sake.”
“Only for that?” he wondered, but dared not ask, and soon left her to seek Mr. Dawn.