About eleven at night
However , with much persuasion and assurances that I should not be molested that night she prevailed on me to lie down ; and indeed I was so weakened by my struggles , so dejected by my fearful apprehension , so terror-struck , that I had not power to sit up , or hardly to give answers to the questions with which the curious Martha plied and perplexed me . Such too , and so cruel was my fate , that I dreaded the sight of Mrs. Brown , as if I had been the criminal , and she the person injured ; a mistake which you will not think so strange , on distinguishing that neither virtue nor principles had the least share in the defence I had made , but only the particular aversion I had conceived against this first brutal and frightful invader of my tender innocence . I passed then the time till Mrs. Brown came home , under all the agitations of fear and despair that may easily be guessed . About eleven at night my two ladies came home , and having received rather a favourable account from Martha , who had run down to let them in , for Mr. Crofts -LRB- that was the name of my brute -RRB- was gone out of the house , after waiting till he had tired his patience for Mrs. Brown 's return , they came thundering up stairs , and seeing me pale , my face bloody , and all the marks of the most thorough dejection , they employed themselves more to comfort and re-inspirit me than in making me the reproaches I was weak enough to fear , I who had so many juster and stronger to retort upon them . Mrs. Brown withdrawn , Phoebe came presently to bed to me , and what with the answers she drew from me , what with her own method of palpably satisfying herself , she soon discovered that I had been more frightened than hurt ; upon which I suppose , being herself seized with sleep , and reserving her lectures and instructions till the next morning , she left me , properly speaking , to my unrest ; for , later tossing and turning the greatest part of the night , and tormenting myself with the falsest notions and apprehensions of things , I fell , through mere fatigue into a kind of delirious doze , out of which I waked late in the morning , in a violent fever : a circumstance which was extremely critical to reprieve me , at least for a time , from the attacks of a wretch , infinitely more terrible to me than death itself . The interested care that was taken of me during my illness , in order to restore me to a condition of making good the bawd 's engagements , or of enduring further trials , had , however , such an effect on my grateful disposition that I even thought myself obliged to my un-doers for their attention to promote my recovery ; and , above all , for the keeping out of my sight of that brutal ravisher , the author of my disorder , on their finding I was too strongly moved at the bare mention of his name . Youth is soon raised , and a few days were sufficient to conquer the fury of my fever : but , what contributed most to my perfect recovery and to my reconciliation with life , was the timely news that Mr. Crofts , who was a merchant of considerable dealings , was arrested at the King 's suit , for nearly forty thousand pounds , on account of his driving a certain contraband trade , and that his affairs were so desperate , that even were it in his inclination , it would not be in his power to renew his designs upon me : for he was instantly thrown into a prison , which it was not likely he would get out of in haste .