midnight
In a few moments I had got away , despite Wildred 's repeated request that I should remain and share his lonely Christmas dinner with him . Somehow , a mouthful of food taken in that house would have choked me , and I left with the echo of the awful cry I had heard still seemingly ringing in my ears . I half expected that Farnham might look in upon me , as Wildred had suggested , and therefore spent what remained of the evening after my return to town at the hotel . But he did not come , and shortly after midnight I threw down the book in which I had been able to retain no great interest , and went to bed . It was ridiculously early when I woke , and my first conscious thought was a joyous one , that now only one day intervened between me and the call I promised myself to make at Lady Tressidy 's . I had endeavoured to explain to my own satisfaction the presence of a portrait which I believed to represent Miss Cunningham at the House by the Lock . There were many ways in which it might have found a place there , without betokening any great intimacy between the original of the picture and Carson Wildred .