Emily heard Amelia 's startled exclamation . She gripped the square rails with her hands until the sharp edges dinted deep into her fingers . John 's voice came up to her again , harsh and expressionless : `` He took a bad turn the day before yesterday and has been getting worse ever since . The doctors do n't expect him to live till morning . '' Amelia began to talk rapidly in low tones . Emily heard nothing further . She got up and went blindly back into her room with such agony tearing at her heartstrings that she dully wondered why she could not shriek aloud . Stephen -- her husband -- dying ! In the burning anguish of that moment her own soul was as an open book before her . The love she had buried rose from the deeps of her being in an awful , accusing resurrection . Out of her stupor and pain a purpose formed itself clearly . She must go to Stephen -- she must beg and win his forgiveness before it was too late . She dared not go down to John and ask him to take her to her husband . He might refuse . The Phillipses had been known to do even harder things than that . At the best there would be a storm of protest and objection on her brother 's and sister 's part , and Emily felt that she could not encounter that in her present mood . It would drive her mad . She lit a lamp and dressed herself noiselessly , but with feverish haste . Then she listened . The house was very still .
Amelia and John had gone XXXXX bed .
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