ten o'clock
She met him at the edge of the North Wood , and held him up , morally and physically . That she kept a clean and respectable house ; that her children were well fed , clothed and cared for , had not counted to her credit one jot among the powers that be . Her husband was not safe on the man 's side of the Black Cat screen . At ten o'clock , did Riddall brave his chances to that hour , Marsena would march boldly into the arena and claim her quarry . If a man rose to expostulate , Marsena was equal to him with tongue and wit . Masculine superiority trembled during Marsena 's reign , which lasted five years ; then Fate downed her . Riddall was called away from his jailer by the command that even Marsena could not defy , and she and her children faced life in a village where a man was an absolute necessity unless there was money to take his place .