nine o'clock
She was thinking only of her father 's misplaced friendship in James Flockart . If she dared to tell him the naked truth ! Oh , if her poor , blind , afflicted father could only see ! At nine o'clock that night Gabrielle left her father , and ascended to her own pretty room , with its light chintz-covered furniture , its well-filled bamboo bookcases , its little writing-table , and its narrow bed in the alcove . It was a nest of rest and cosy comfort . Exchanging her tweed dress , she put on an easy dressing-gown of pale blue cashmere , drew up an armchair , and , arranging her electric reading-lamp , sat down to a new novel she intended to finish . Presently Elise came to her ; but , looking up , she said she did not wish to be disturbed , and again coiled herself up in the chair , endeavouring to concentrate her thoughts upon her book .