one o'clock
The trees were in blossom ; birds were filling the air with delicious melody , but not a leaf stirred . The Chapman family were up before the sun that morning , and the whole house was astir ere Bowling Green had fairly waked up , or the din of Broadway had broken the stillness . Chapman had spent a restless night , and seemed sad and downcast , as if some trouble he would fain conceal was weighing on his mind . He breakfasted alone that morning , and went to business an hour earlier than usual , promising to return at one o'clock . He returned , however , at twelve , and in such a state of distress as to alarm the whole house . Indeed he entered the house more like a madman than a philosopher , and so alarmed Bowles by the wildness of his manner and appearance , that he proceeded in a state of great excitement to inform his mistress . When , then , that lady entered the parlor she found her husband stretched on the sofa , with his right hand pressing his forehead , and apparently in a state of great distress .