eight
o'clock
The simple evening meal , partly tea , partly supper , which Grace had prepared , stood waiting upon the hearth ; and yet Giles did not come . It was now nearly twenty-four hours since she had seen him . As the room grew darker , and only the firelight broke against the gloom of the walls , she was convinced that it would be beyond her staying power to pass the night without hearing from him or from somebody . Yet eight o'clock drew on , and his form at the window did not appear . The meal remained untasted . Suddenly rising from before the hearth of smouldering embers , where she had been crouching with her hands clasped over her knees , she crossed the room , unlocked the door , and listened . Every breath of wind had ceased with the decline of day , but the rain had resumed the steady dripping of the night before .