three o'clock in the morning
She was n't heartless ; she had thought frequently of them before , but always with the notion that she would some day , and by happy chance some day not distant , reveal her transfigured self to them and , out of the plenitude of her blessings , lend them a little , and much more than a little , aid and comfort . Something of that sort , indeed , was the least she could do ; it was but justice ; it was simply repayment of acknowledged indebtedness . And now , it seemed , it might never be ! From this she passed into new wonder and bewilderment at the duplicity of Savage and his sister , and the mystery of their motives and the still deeper mystery of their actions , and the inscrutable mystery of the boat that had landed on the beach of Gosnold House at three o'clock in the morning . All of which led her suddenly to make sure of the jewel-box . It was no longer in its place of concealment . Mrs. Gosnold , she assumed , must have removed it .