midnight
Sir James began to feel some uneasiness at the non-appearance , not only of Don Luis , but also of the priest , who was to have arrived at Collingham-Westmore on that day . `` On questioning some of the servants who had been out of the house , the absence of Father O'Connor at least was satisfactorily accounted for : they all declared that it would be quite impossible for those best acquainted with the hills to find their way across them in the blinding drifts which had never ceased throughout the day . We concluded that Father O'Connor and Don Luis were alike storm-stayed , and had no remedy but patience . `` Late in the evening -- it must have been near midnight -- I was in Miss Collingham 's dressing-room with Miss Patricia , who intended to watch by her through the night . We were talking by the fire , of the snow-storm which still continued , and of the hindrance it might prove to the marriage -- the day fixed for which was now less than a week distant -- when we heard a voice in the adjoining room , where we imagined the object of our care to be sleeping . We went in . Miss Collingham was sitting up in bed , her eyes wide open , in one of her rigid fits .