two o'clock
Mr. Anstruther sat so still that he , too , might have been asleep , but Eleanor , glancing at him once or twice , saw that his eyes were wide open and gazing fixedly before him . After awhile , his utter immobility no less than Mrs. Danvers ' regular snoring , got on Eleanor 's nerves , and rising quietly she slipped from the room , closing the door softly behind her . The lights were burning in the hall , and there she kept her lonely vigil , pacing up and down . The slow hours wore away , two o'clock , three o'clock struck , and still Geoffrey and Maud did not return . The huge relief and joy she had felt when Geoffrey had come back from the hospital with the news that the girl who had fallen over the cliffs was not Margaret had long since ebbed away , and the anxiety to know what had become of her was almost torturing in its intensity . She wondered how any one in the house could sleep , or how Mr. Anstruther could sit patiently hour after hour by the fire waiting for news . Then she remembered that at least his conscience was at ease , for it was through no fault of his that his granddaughter was wandering about on the downs on such a dreadful night , and she envied him , envied any one who was not , like herself , burdened with remorse , and that awful sense that had grown up with her anxiety that , for whatever might befall Margaret that night , she alone was directly responsible .