minutes before the hour of ten
For the last hour I placed my watch before me , and kept my eyes constantly fixed upon it . Should any one think this exaggerated , let him remember , that it was not only Glanville 's confession that I was to hear ; my own fate , my future connection with Ellen , rested upon the story of that night . For myself , when I called to mind Glanville 's acknowledgment of the picture , and his slow and involuntary remembrance of the spot where it was found , I scarcely allowed my temper , sanguine as it was , to hope . Some minutes before the hour of ten I repaired to Glanville 's house . He was alone -- the picture was before him . I drew my chair towards him in silence , and accidentally lifting up my eyes , encountered the opposite mirror . I started at my own face ; the intensity and fearfulness of my interest had rendered it even more hueless than that of my companion .