There's something so horribly unnatural in the child being threatened by death, while the parents (who should die first) are alive and well--" He checked himself.

"I had better say no more, I shall only shock you." The misery in his face wrung the faithful heart of his wife.

She forgot the conciliatory expressions which she had prepared herself to use.
"Hope, my dear, as Randal tells you," she said, "because there _is_ hope." His face flushed, his dim eyes brightened.

"Has the doctor said it ?" he asked.
"Yes." "Why haven't I been told of it before ?" "When I sent for you, I heard that you had gone out." The explanation passed by him unnoticed--perhaps even unheard.

"Tell me what the doctor said," he insisted; "I want it exactly, word for word." She obeyed him to the letter.
The sinister change in his face, as the narrative proceeded was observed by both the other persons present, as well as by his wife.