four o'clock
At first the approach of pain was manifested by a nervous anxiety for her husband 's presence . She seemed dissatisfied and restless when he was not with her , and after breakfast in the mornings , when he took up his hat to go out , she would beg of him to stay , and find fault with him for leaving her . He reasoned with her very softly , assuring her that he had the most important engagements . On one occasion it was a man who had given him an appointment in order to speak with him concerning a new theatre , of which he was to have the entire management ; another time it was a man who was writing a drama , and wanted a collaborator to put the stage construction right ; and as these séances of collaboration occupied both morning and afternoon , Kate was thrown entirely on her own resources until four o'clock . The first two or three novels she had read during her convalescence had amused her , but now one seemed so much like the other that they ended by boring her ; and , too excited to be able to fix her attention , she often read without understanding what she was reading : on one side the memory of her baby 's death preyed upon her -- she still could not help thinking that it was owing to her neglect that it had died -- on the other , the thought that her husband was playing her false goaded her to madness . Sometimes she attempted to follow him , but this only resulted in failure , and she returned home after a fruitless chase more dejected than ever . ` Ah !