I had been gone a fortnight when the telegram was put into my hands. I had got a letter from my sister, a few hours before, saying that all was well at home. The telegram said in five words that she had died suddenly the previous night. There was no mention of my mother, and I was three days’ journey from home.
The news I got on reaching London was this: my mother did not understand that her daughter was dead, and they were waiting for me to tell her.

James Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist

Margaret Ogilvy, ch. 10 “Art Thou Afraid His Power Shall Fail?” (1896)
    (Source)

The book is a biographical work about his mother and family.