nine o'clock
And meanwhile the widow 's dress had quite other meanings for Bridget . She pondered long in the dark , till the supper bell rang . At supper , her silence embarrassed and infected her companions , and Farrell , finding it impossible to get another tête-à-tête with Nelly , took his leave early . He must be up almost with the dawn so as to get to Carton by nine o'clock . * * * * * Out of a stormy heaven the moon was breaking as he walked back to his cottage . The solitude of the mountain ways , the freshness of the rain-washed air , and the sweetness of his hour with Nelly , after the bustle of the week , the arrivals and departures , the endless business , of a great hospital : -- he was conscious of them all , intensely conscious , as parts of a single , delightful whole to which he had looked forward for days . And yet he was restless and far from happy .