Mrs. Branston bore the shock of his ill news better than Gilbert had
expected. There is good material even in the weakest of womankind when
the heart is womanly and true.
She was deeply shocked, intensely sorry; and she made no attempt to mask
her sorrow by any conventional speech or pretence whatsoever. She made
Gilbert give her all the details of John Saltram's illness, and when he
had told her all, asked him plainly if she might be permitted to see the
sick man.
"Do let me see him, if it is possible," she said; "it would be such a
comfort to me to see him."
"I do not say such a thing is not possible, my dear Mrs. Branston; but I
am sure it would be very foolish."
"O, never mind that; I am always doing foolish things. It would only be
one folly more, and would hardly count in my history. Dear Mr. Fenton, do
let me see him."
"I don't think you quite know what you are asking, Mrs. Branston. Such a
sick-bed as John Saltram's would be a most painful scene for you. He has
been delirious from the beginning of his illness, and is so still. He
rarely has an interval of anything like consciousness, and in all the
time that I have been with him has never yet recognised me; indeed,
there are moments when I am inclined to fear that his brain may be
permanently deranged."
"God forbid!" exclaimed Adela, in a voice that was choked with tears.
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