Wide-open

"A telegraphic message!" she cried; for the convenient word telegram had not yet been invented. "What can be the matter?"

She looked up at her husband with wide-open, terrified eyes, and seemed half afraid to break the seal. The envelope was addressed to Miss Lucy Graham, at Mr. Dawson's, and had been sent on from the village.

"Read it, my darling," he said, "and do not be alarmed; it may be nothing of any importance."
(excerpt from Victorian novel Lady Audley's Secret)

How many times has "wide open, terrified eyes" been written? Too many, perhaps. Why do we rely on the eyes to show this ballooning, exhausting fear? It must dwell in more places than the eyes. Were does the terror dwell? My mother always says "Don't dwell."