six o'clock
Then the flame fluttered down again into the ashes . When Blair reached the house that afternoon , she was unconscious . Once , at a stab of pain , she burst out crying with fretful wildness ; and once she put her thumb into her mouth . At six o'clock that night she died . When the doctor came to tell Nannie that Sarah Maitland was dead , he found her in the parlor , shivering up against her brother . Blair had come to his mother 's house early that afternoon ; a note from Elizabeth , awaiting him at the River House , had told him of the gravity of Mrs. Maitland 's condition , and bidden him `` come instantly . '' As he read it , his face grew tense .