"
Later on in the day came a telegram in reply; it was addressed to
Alan: "Am on my way out by through train to attend you. But as a
matter of duty, marry the girl at once, and legitimatize your child
while the chance remains to you."
It was kindly meant in its way. It was a message of love, of
forgiveness, of generosity, such as Herminia would hardly have
expected from so stern a man as Alan had always represented his
father to be to her. But at moments of unexpected danger angry
feelings between father and son are often forgotten, and blood
unexpectedly proves itself thicker than water. Yet even so
Herminia couldn't bear to show the telegram to Alan. She feared
lest in this extremity, his mind weakened by disease, he might wish
to take his father's advice, and prove untrue to their common
principles. In that case, woman that she was, she hardly knew how
she could resist what might be only too probably his dying wishes.
Still, she nerved herself for this trial of faith, and went through
with it bravely. Alan, though sinking, was still conscious at
moments; in one such interval, with an effort to be calm, she
showed him his father's telegram.
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