three o'clock
`` Sweetheart , '' he said ; and smiled , and died . * * * * Isabel did not see much of Mistress Margaret for the next few days ; she was constantly with her sister , and when she came to the Dower House now and then , said little to the girl . There were curious rumours in the village ; strangers came and went continually , and there was a vast congregation at the funeral , when the body of the old knight was laid to rest in the Maxwell chapel . The following day the air of mystery deepened ; and young Mrs. Melton whispered to Isabel , with many glances and becks , that she and her man had seen lights through the chapel windows at three o'clock that morning . Isabel went into the chapel presently to visit the grave , and there was a new smear of black on the east wall as if a taper had been set too near . The courier who had been despatched to announce to Hubert that his father had died and left him master of the Hall and estate , with certain conditions , returned at the end of the month with the news that the fleet had sailed again on the thirteenth , and that Hubert was gone with it ; so Lady Maxwell , now more silent and retired than ever , for the present retained her old position and Mr. Piers took charge of the estate . Although Isabel outwardly was very little changed in the last six years , great movements had been taking place in her soul , and if Hubert had only known the state of the case , possibly he would not have gone so hastily with Mr. Drake .