Nine o'clock
If only a kindly Fate had kept the young man away another twenty-four hours ! or better still , if it led the despairing lover 's footsteps to the extremest edge of the cliffs ! Sir Marmaduke now paced the narrow room up and down in an agony of impatience . Nine o'clock had struck long ago , but Sue had not yet come . The wildest imaginings run riot in the schemer 's brain : every hour , nay ! every minute spent within was fraught with danger . He sought his broad-brimmed hat , determined now to meet Sue in the park , to sally forth at risk of missing her , at risk of her arriving here at the cottage when he was absent , and of her meeting Richard Lambert perhaps , before the irrevocable deed of gift had been accomplished .