six o'clock in the morning
The moment he fixed his eyes on the count , who was leaning over him , he stretched out his little arms , and begged to lie on his breast . Thaddeus refused him gently , fearing that by any change of position he might catch cold , and so again retard what had now so fortunately appeared ; but the poor child thought the denial unkind , and began to weep so violently , that his anxious friend believed it better to gratify him than hazard the irritation of his fever by agitation and crying . Thaddeus took him out of bed , and rolling him in one of the blankets , laid him in his bosom ; and drawing his dressing-gown to shield the little face from the fire , held him in that situation asleep for nearly two hours . When Mrs. Robson came down stairs at six o'clock in the morning , she kissed the hand of the count as he sustained her grandson in his arms ; and almost speechless with gratitude to him , and solicitude for the child , waited the arrival of the apothecary . On his second visit , he said a few words to her of comfort , but whispered to the count , while softly feeling William 's pulse , that nothing short of the strictest care could save the boy , the infection he had received having been of the most malignant kind . These words fell like an unrepealable sentence on the heart of Thaddeus . Looking on the discolored features of the patient infant , he fancied that he already beheld its clay-cold face , and its little limbs stretched in death .