midnight
That thought gripped her at the heart as with an iron vice . If indeed she should be too late already ! The loneliness of the room overwhelmed her ; everything within was so horribly still ; the ticking of the grandfather 's clock -- dreadfully slow and measured -- was the only sound which broke this awful loneliness . Marguerite had need of all her energy , all her steadfastness of purpose , to keep up her courage through this weary midnight waiting . Everyone else in the house but herself must have been asleep . She had heard Sally go upstairs . Mr. Jellyband had gone to see to her coachman and men , and then had returned and taken up a position under the porch outside , just where Marguerite had first met Chauvelin about a week ago .