twenty minutes to nine
When the light had been carried away , her eyes opened quite wide . Nearby , in the meantime , Helene was pacing up and down her room . She was seized with a wondrous longing to be up and moving about ; the idea of going to bed seemed to her insufferable . She glanced at the clock -- twenty minutes to nine ; what was she to do ? she rummaged about in a drawer , but forgot what she was seeking for . Then she wandered to her bookshelves , glancing aimlessly over the books ; but the very reading of the titles wearied her . A buzzing sprang up in her ears with the room 's stillness ; the loneliness , the heavy atmosphere , were as an agony to her .