nine in the morning
And in the midst of this agony appeared -- Miss Gascoigne . Aunt Henrietta had spent the whole night , except a brief space for sleeping , in thinking over and talking over her duties and her wrongs , the two being mixed up together in inextinguishable confusion . Almost any subject , after being churned up in such a nature as hers for twelve mortal hours , would at the end look quite different from what it did at first , or what it really was . And so , with all honesty of purpose , and with the firmest conviction that it was the only means of saving her brother-in-law and his family from irretrievable misery and disgrace , poor Miss Gascoigne had broken through all her habits , risen , dressed , and breakfasted at an unearthly hour , and there she stood at the Lodge door at nine in the morning , determined to `` do her duty , '' as she expressed it , but looking miserably pale , and vainly restraining her agitation so as to keep up a good appearance `` before the servants . '' `` That will do , Barker . You need not disturb the master ; I came at this early hour just for a little chat with your mistress and the children . '' And then entering the parlor , she sat down opposite to Christian to take breath .