8 o'clock
From the time he managed to get off , it was not at all likely that he could be back before 10 o'clock . Marguerite 's heart quite misgave her when she heard this , but as time moved on , and it came to half-past 7 , she was re-assured to find that Jacques Gaultier was putting away his tools , and finally left the house , saying that he had `` work for himself at home , but would return the following morning to finish repairing those rafters that had so suddenly got out of repair . '' Matters seemed better still when her Father said he did not feel at all himself that night , and that he thought he would go off to bed . Marguerite wished him `` Good night ; '' and at 8 o'clock found herself alone and mistress of her own actions . She might now have brought Charlie into the house , but that she remembered her Father 's prohibition of such a thing ; and at least she thought it best and fittest to leave him master in his own house , at the same time reserving to herself liberty to control her own actions . This was fair enough . At about 8 o'clock , as agreed on , Marguerite took her little lantern , and going round the path to where they had been standing two evenings before , she flashed the light three times trusting that Charlie would be able to see it .