nine o'clock
Without saying anything to Mary , Mrs. Lowe and the child they had been fitting , went down stairs . This hour had been one of nervous excitement to Mary Carson . Her cheeks were hot -- burning as if a fire shone upon them -- but her cold hands , and wet , colder feet , sent the blood in every returning circle , robbed of warmth to the disturbed heart . It was past nine o'clock when a servant called Mary to breakfast . As she arose from her chair , she felt a sharp stitch in her left side ; so sharp , that she caught her breath in half inspirations , two or three times , before venturing on a full inflation of the lungs . She was , at the same time , conscious of an uncomfortable tightness across the chest . The nausea , and loathing of food , which had given place soon after her arrival at Mrs. Lowe 's to a natural craving of the stomach for food , had returned again , and she felt , as she went down stairs , that unless something to tempt the appetite were set before her , she could not take a mouthful .