What does the visitor want to convey by the words, “Badly hurt, but he’s not in any pain” ?

Question

The next morning, a gentleman knocked on the door, “I come from Maw and Meggins your son’s employer” The old lady looked surprised. “Is anything wrong?”, she asked breathlessly. “Has anything happened to my son, Herbert? What is it?” The visitor looked down.

“Badly hurt,” he said quietly. “But he’not in any pain. Oh, thank God, thank God for that!” But the sinister meaning of the visitor’s assurance suddenly became clear to the old lady and she looked at him. His face was turned away, confirming her worst fears.

(1) What does the visitor want to convey by the words, “Badly hurt, but he’s not in any pain” ?

(2) Why did the visitor turn away his face ?

Answer 1

(1) By the words, “Badly hurt, but he’s not in any pain”, the visitor wants to convey that their son is ‘no more’, i.e., ‘has died’.

(2) The visitor turned away his face because he did not have courage to look into the eyes of the mother who recently had had the news of her son’s death