Sorrell and Son by Warwick Deeping

Some days seem made for tragedy, and on that bleak January morning when Hulks brought a telegram to Sorrell's office, and Sorrell read it and then sat looking at the rocking and complaining trees, he was conscious of fear. The telegram had been sent by Simon Orange from a post office in Berners Street at half-past nine that morning.

"Your son ill. Come at once."