twelve o'clock
He told himself that not for hundreds of precious pounds would he wait in that flat , wait for the sounds of anguish which would inevitably rise and echo about those circumscribed walls . The July sun went down ; the moon rose up and found him still walking ; still fearing and wondering . He supposed he was a coward ; he could not help it . It was after twelve o'clock when at last he went home . He went because he suddenly remembered they had left George in his charge , and while there was little he could do for Marie , he could at least be faithful to that trust . He came back shivering as he had gone out ; and as he fitted his latchkey with cold fingers into the lock he heard the newborn infant 's wail . The nurse looked out into the corridor at the sound of his entrance ; she raised her finger , enjoining silence , and smiled .