ten o'clock
The hours went on without his returning , and at length it occurred to her that he might have taken the night train to Hanaford . Her heart contracted at the thought : she remembered -- though every nerve shrank from the analogy -- his sudden flight at another crisis in his life , and she felt obscurely that if he escaped from her now she would never recover her hold on him . But could he be so cruel -- could he wish any one to suffer as she was suffering ? At ten o'clock she could endure the drawing-room no longer , and went up to her room again . She undressed slowly , trying to prolong the process as much as possible , to put off the period of silence and inaction which would close in on her when she lay down on her bed . But at length the dreaded moment came -- there was nothing more between her and the night . She crept into bed and put out the light ; but as she slipped between the cold sheets a trembling seized her , and after a moment she drew on her dressing-gown again and groped her way to the lounge by the fire .