ten minutes to four
And rather by sign than word , he took Mary into the sickroom , indicated a chair , and laid himself on a sofa , where he was instantaneously sound asleep , before his startled daughter had quite taken everything in ; but she had only to glance at his haggard wearied face , to be glad to be there , so as to afford him even a few moments of vigorous slumber with all his might . In some awe , she looked round , not venturing to stir hand or foot . Her chair was in the full draught of the dewy morning breeze , so chilly , that she drew her shawl tightly about her ; but she knew that this had been an instance of her father 's care , and if she wished to make the slightest move , it was only to secure a fuller view of the patient , from whom she was half cut off by a curtain at the foot of the bed . A sort of dread , however , made Mary gaze at everything around her before she brought her eyes upon him -- her father 's watch on the table , indicating ten minutes to four , the Minster Tower in the rising sunlight -- nay , the very furniture of the room , and Dr. May 's position , before she durst familiarize herself with Leonard 's appearance -- he whom she had last seen as a sturdy , ruddy , healthful boy , looking able to outweigh two of his friend Aubrey . The original disease had long since passed into typhus , and the scarlet eruption was gone , so that she only saw a yellow whiteness , that , marked by the blue veins of the bared temples , was to her mind death-like . Mary had not been sheltered from taking part in scenes of suffering ; she had seen sickness and death in cottages , as well as in her own home , and she had none of the fanciful alarms , either of novelty or imagination , to startle her in the strange watch that had so suddenly been thrust on her but what did fill her with a certain apprehension , was the new and lofty beauty of expression that sat on that sleeping countenance . ` A nice boy , ' ` rather a handsome lad , ' ` a boy of ingenuous face , ' they had always called Leonard Ward , when animated with health and spirits ; and the friendship between him and Aubrey had been encouraged , but without thinking of him as more than an ordinary lad of good style .