midnight
He wrote briefly and unaffectedly ; he made no excuses , but informed her that he was living quite alone , and had been led to think that they ought to be together , if she would make up her mind to forgive him . He therefore purported to cross the Channel to Budmouth by the steamer on a day he named , which she found to be three days after the time of her present reading . He said that he could not come to Hintock for obvious reasons , which her father would understand even better than herself . As the only alternative she was to be on the quay to meet the steamer when it arrived from the opposite coast , probably about half an hour before midnight , bringing with her any luggage she might require ; join him there , and pass with him into the twin vessel , which left immediately the other entered the harbor ; returning thus with him to his continental dwelling-place , which he did not name . He had no intention of showing himself on land at all . The troubled Grace took the letter to her father , who now continued for long hours by the fireless summer chimney-corner , as if he thought it were winter , the pitcher of cider standing beside him , mostly untasted , and coated with a film of dust . After reading it he looked up .