two o'clock
He had said repeatedly that only her declaration that she did not love him would ever prevent his marrying her . Very well , then for his sake she must lie to him ; she must tell him that very thing . She must write him that she had been considering the matter and had decided she could never love him enough to become his wife . It was almost two o'clock when she reached this decision but she sat down at her desk to write then and there the letter containing it , the last letter she would ever write him . And when the morning light came streaming in at the windows she still sat there , the letter unwritten . She had made many beginnings , but not an end . She must try again ; she was too tired , too nervous , too hopeless and heartbroken to make another attempt that morning , but before the day was over it should be done .