noon
She dressed in feverish haste , yet with great care and attention to effects . Her gown was a lustreless black silk , trimmed with gold and made as plain as her modiste would -- and the styles permitted . Her hair was piled high , with an elongated twist ; her dead-white complexion was unmarred by powder or rouge , and beneath the transparent skin the blood pulsed softly pink . Her toilet finished , and passed upon in the mirror , she sent her maid on a shopping expedition which would occupy her until noon , and even hurried her off . She wanted no one about , not even Elise , when she made her last play at Harleston . Elise gone five minutes before the hour , she compelled herself to outward tranquillity -- while she strove for inward calm . And succeeding wonderfully well -- so well , indeed , that none would ever have suspected the agitation seething under the cold placidity .