seven o'clock
on March 29th
Allah is great ! The most glorious one has asked her if she will not come with her -- '' `` Selim , '' commanded the master ominously , `` do n't repeat the gossip you pick up when I 'm not around . '' Two days and nights crept slowly into the past , and now the white people of the château had come to the eve of their last day 's stay on the island of Japat : the probationary period would expire with the sun on the following day , the anniversary of the death of Taswell Skaggs . The six months set aside by the testator as sufficient for all the requirements of Cupid were to come to an inglorious end at seven o'clock on March 29th . According to the will , if Agnes Ruthven and Robert Browne were not married to each other before the close of that day all of their rights in the estate were lost to them . To-morrow would be the last day of residence required , but , alack ! Was it to be the last that they were to spend in the world-forsaken land ?