expectation of the worst

Related: Republic of Ireland keep alive Euro 2016 hopes as Jonathan Walters sinks Georgia Just when Scotland would have been forgiven an expectation of the worst, salvation arrived.

When Mademoiselle de Vrillac came out of the hour-long swoon into which her lover's defection had cast her, the expectation of the worst was so strong upon her that she could not at once credit the respite which Madame Carlat hastened to announce.

When Mademoiselle de Vrillac came out of the hour-long swoon into which her lover’s defection had cast her, the expectation of the worst was so strong upon her that she could not at once credit the respite which Madame Carlat hastened to announce. 

Probably that she was not married; Tom's mind was set to the expectation of the worst that could happen,–not death, but disgrace.