eight
o'clock
It testified emphatically to my having eaten and drunk , and warmed myself , and slept among the sheltering branches of the Holly-Tree , seven days and nights . I had yesterday allowed the road twenty-four hours to improve itself , finding that I required that additional margin of time for the completion of my task . I had ordered my Bill to be upon the table , and a chaise to be at the door , `` at eight o'clock to-morrow evening . '' It was eight o'clock to-morrow evening when I buckled up my travelling writing-desk in its leather case , paid my Bill , and got on my warm coats and wrappers . Of course , no time now remained for my travelling on to add a frozen tear to the icicles which were doubtless hanging plentifully about the farmhouse where I had first seen Angela . What I had to do was to get across to Liverpool by the shortest open road , there to meet my heavy baggage and embark . It was quite enough to do , and I had not an hour too much time to do it in .