Eight o'clock
She had only her traveling suit and one simple little gray silk , dyed from a white `` Semi-Annual '' and made very simply , with a wide collar and cuffs of white net . Anybody but Georgiana would have looked like a Quakeress in the gray silk , but with her dark hair and warm colouring she succeeded only in imitating a young nun but just removed from scenes of worldly gayety ! She decided that the hour and the occasion called for this frock , and put it on with fingers which shook a little . Eight o'clock . She dared wait no longer , so , making sure that her father , having eaten and drunk , was resting luxuriously on his bed , she opened her door . The house seemed very quiet , and she went slowly along the upper hall , and after pausing a moment at the top of the fine staircase with its white spindles and mahogany rail , she began to descend . The steps were heavily padded and her footfall made no sound ; therefore , as she afterward realized , a very close watch must have been kept , for the moment she came in sight of the open library door a figure appeared there .