About nine o'clock
Dinner was prepared for them , and , at the gentleman 's desire , served in the same apartment ; where , the young lady having joined him , they were left to the rest and refreshment they seemed to need . That something was peculiar in the relations of the pair had more than once struck the landlord , though wherein that peculiarity lay it was hard to decide . But that his guest was one who paid his way readily had been proved by his conduct , and dismissing conjectures , he turned to practical affairs . About nine o'clock he re-entered the hall , and , everything being done for the day , again walked up and down , occasionally gazing through the glass door at the prospect without , to ascertain how the weather was progressing . Contrary to prognostication , snow had ceased falling , and , with the rising of the moon , the sky had partially cleared , light fleeces of cloud drifting across the silvery disk . There was every sign that a frost was going to set in later on . For these reasons the distant rising road was even more distinct now between its high banks than it had been in the declining daylight .