”Doyoustillthinkthatinanycaseshecan’thaveanother?””Onecan’tbeabsolutelysure，butit’smostunlikely。””She’sstrong，”saidSoames；”we’lltaketherisk。”Thedoctorlookedathimverygravely。”It’sonyourshoulders，”
hesaid；”withmyownwife，Icouldn’t。”
Soames’chinjerkedupasifsomeonehadhithim。”AmIofanyuseupthere?”heasked。”No；keepaway。””Ishallbeinmypicture-gallery，then；youknowwhere。”
Thedoctornodded，andwentupstairs。
Soamescontinuedtostand，listening。’Bythistimeto-morrow，’hethought，’Imayhaveherdeathonmyhands。’No！itwasunfair——
monstrous，toputitthatway！Sullennessdroppedonhimagain，andhewentuptothegallery。Hestoodatthewindow。Thewindwasinthenorth；itwascold，clear；verybluesky，heavyraggedwhitecloudschasingacross；theriverblue，too，throughthescreenofgoldeningtrees；thewoodsallrichwithcolour，glowing，burnished-anearlyautumn。Ifitwerehisownlife，wouldhebetakingthatrisk?’Butshe’dtaketheriskoflosingme，’hethought，’soonerthanloseherchild！Shedoesn’treallyloveme！’
Whatcouldoneexpect——agirlandFrench?Theonethingreallyvitaltothemboth，vitaltotheirmarriageandtheirfutures，wasachild！’I’vebeenthroughalotforthis，’hethought，’I’llholdon——holdon。There’sachanceofkeepingboth——achance！’
Onekepttillthingsweretaken——onenaturallykept！Hebeganwalkingroundthegallery。Hehadmadeonepurchaselatelywhichheknewwasafortuneinitself，andhehaltedbeforeit——agirlwithdullgoldhairwhichlookedlikefilamentsofmetalgazingatalittlegoldenmonstershewasholdinginherhand。Evenatthistorturedmomenthecouldjustfeeltheextraordinarynatureofthebargainhehadmade——admirethequalityofthetable，thefloor，thechair，thegirl’sfigure，theabsorbedexpressiononherface，thedullgoldfilamentsofherhair，thebrightgoldofthelittlemonster。Collectingpictures；growingricher，richer！Whatuse，if……！Heturnedhisbackabruptlyonthepicture，andwenttothewindow。Someofhisdoveshadflownupfromtheirperchesroundthedovecot，andwerestretchingtheirwingsinthewind。Intheclearsharpsunlighttheirwhitenessalmostflashed。Theyflewfar，makingaflung-uphieroglyphicagainstthesky。Annettefedthedoves；itwasprettytoseeher。Theytookitoutofherhand；
theyknewshewasmatter-of-fact。Achokingsensationcameintohisthroat。Shewouldnot——couldnoddie！Shewastoo——toosensible；andshewasstrong，reallystrong，likehermother，inspiteofherfairprettinessItwasalreadygrowingdarkwhenatlastheopenedthedoor，andstoodlistening。Notasound！Amilkytwilightcreptaboutthestairwayandthelandingsbelow。Hehadturnedbackwhenasoundcaughthisear。Peeringdown，hesawablackshapemoving，andhisheartstoodstill。Whatwasit?Death?TheshapeofDeathcomingfromherdoor?No！onlyamaidwithoutcaporapron。Shecametothefootofhisflightofstairsandsaidbreathlessly：”Thedoctorwantstoseeyou，sir。”
Herandown。Shestoodflatagainstthewalltolethimpass，andsaid：”Oh，Sir！it’sover。””Over?”saidSoames，withasortofmenace；”whatd’youmean?””It’sborn，sir。”
Hedashedupthefourstepsinfrontofhim，andcamesuddenlyonthedoctorinthedimpassage。Themanwaswipinghisbrow。”Well?”hesaid；”quick！””Bothliving；it’sallright，Ithink。”
Soamesstoodquitestill，coveringhiseyes。”Icongratulateyou，”heheardthedoctorsay；”itwastouchandgo。”
Soamesletfallthehandwhichwascoveringhisface。”Thanks，”hesaid；”thanksverymuch。Whatisit?””Daughter——luckily；asonwouldhavekilledher——thehead。”
Adaughter！”Theutmostcareofboth，”heheartsthedoctorsay，”andweshalldo。Whendoesthemothercome?””To-night，betweennineandten，Ihope。””I’llstaytillthen。Doyouwanttoseethem?””Notnow，”saidSoames；”beforeyougo。I’llhavedinnersentuptoyou。”Andhewentdownstairs。
Reliefunspeakable，andyet——adaughter！Itseemedtohimunfair。
Tohavetakenthatrisk——tohavebeenthroughthisagony——andwhatagony！——foradaughter！Hestoodbeforetheblazingfireofwoodlogsinthehall，touchingitwithhistoeandtryingtoreadjusthimself。’Myfather！’hethought。Abitterdisappointment，nodisguisingit！Onenevergotallonewantedinthislife！Andtherewasnoother——atleast，iftherewas，itwasnouse！
Whilehewasstandingthere，atelegramwasbroughthim。”Comeupatonce，yourfathersinkingfast——
MOTHER。”
Hereaditwithachokingsensation。Onewouldhavethoughthecouldn’tfeelanythingaftertheselasthours，buthefeltthis。
Half-pastseven，atrainfromReadingatnine，andmadame’strain，ifshehadcaughtit，cameinateight-forty——hewouldmeetthat，andgoon。Heorderedthecarriage，atesomedinnermechanically，andwentupstairs。Thedoctorcameouttohim。”They’resleeping。””Iwon’tgoin，”saidSoameswithrelief。”Myfather’sdying；I
haveto——goup。Isitallright?”
Thedoctor’sfaceexpressedakindofdoubtingadmiration。’Iftheywereallasunemotional’hemighthavebeensaying。”Yes，Ithinkyoumaygowithaneasymind。You’llbedownsoon?””To-morrow，”saidSoames。”Here’stheaddress。”
Thedoctorseemedtohoveronthevergeofsympathy。”Good-night！”saidSoamesabruptly，andturnedaway。Heputonhisfurcoat。Death！Itwasachillybusiness。Hesmokedacigaretteinthecarriage——oneofhisrarecigarettes。Thenightwaswindyandflewonblackwings；thecarriagelightshadtosearchouttheway。Hisfather！Thatold，oldman！Acomfortlessnight——todie！
TheLondontraincameinjustashereachedthestation，andMadameLamotte，substantial，dark-clothed，veryyellowinthelamplight，cametowardstheexitwithadressing-bag。”Thisallyouhave?”askedSoames。”Butyes；Ihadnotthetime。Howismylittleone?””Doingwell——both。Agirl！””Agirl！Whatjoy！Ihadafrightfulcrossing！”
Herblackbulk，solid，unreducedbythefrightfulcrossing，climbedintothebrougham。”Andyou，moncher?””Myfather’sdying，”saidSoamesbetweenhisteeth。”I’mgoingup。
GivemylovetoAnnette。””Tiens！”murmuredMadameLamotte；”quelmalheur！”
Soamestookhishatoff，andmovedtowardshistrain。’TheFrench！’hethought。
CHAPTERXIII
JAMESISTOLD
Asimplecold，caughtintheroomwithdoublewindows，wheretheairandthepeoplewhosawhimwerefiltered，asitwere，theroomhehadnotleftsincethemiddleofSeptember——andJameswasindeepwaters。Alittlecold，passinghislittlestrengthandflyingquicklytohislungs。”Hemustn’tcatchcold，”thedoctorhaddeclared，andhehadgoneandcaughtit。Whenhefirstfeltitinhisthroathehadsaidtohisnurse——forhehadonenow——”There，I
knewhowitwouldbe，airingtheroomlikethat！”Forawholedayhewashighlynervousabouthimselfandwentinadvanceofallprecautionsandremedies；drawingeverybreathwithextremecareandhavinghistemperaturetakeneveryhour。Emilywasnotalarmed。
Butnextmorningwhenshewentinthenursewhispered：”Hewon’thavehistemperaturetaken。”
Emilycrossedtothesideofthebedwherehewaslying，andsaidsoftly，”Howdoyoufeel，James?”holdingthethermometertohislips。Jameslookedupather。”What’sthegoodofthat?”hemurmuredhuskily；”Idon’twanttoknow。”
Thenshewasalarmed。Hebreathedwithdifficulty，helookedterriblyfrail，white，withfaintreddiscolorations。Shehad’hadtrouble’withhim，Goodnessknew；buthewasJames，hadbeenJamesfornearlyfiftyyears；shecouldn’trememberorimaginelifewithoutJames——James，behindallhisfussiness，hispessimism，hiscrustyshell，deeplyaffectionate，reallykindandgeneroustothemall！