about six o’clock
She remained also in great sorrow for her relative , whom she loved with sisterly affection . These conflicting causes of anxiety , together with her uncertainty , whether to continue or change her son 's destination , were terminated in the following manner : -- The house in which Mrs. C -- resided in the old town of Edinburgh , was a flat or story of a land accessible , as was then universal , by a common stair . The family who occupied the story beneath were her acquaintances , and she was in the habit of drinking tea with them every evening . It was accordingly about six o'clock , when , recovering herself from a deep fit of anxious reflection , she was about to leave the parlour in which she sat in order to attend this engagement . The door through which she was to pass opened , as was very common in Edinburgh , into a dark passage . In this passage , and within a yard of her when she opened the door , stood the apparition of her kinsman , the deceased officer , in his full tartans , and wearing his bonnet . Terrified at what she saw , or thought she saw , she closed the door hastily , and , sinking on her knees by a chair , prayed to be delivered from the horrors of the vision .