eight in the morning
She wrote two lines on note-paper in her room : but found them overfervid and mysterious . Besides , how were they to be conveyed to Nevil 's chamber She walked in the passage for half an hour , thinking it possible she might meet him ; not the most lady-like of proceedings , but her head was bewildered . An arm-chair in her room invited her to rest and think -- the mask of a natural desire for sleep . At eight in the morning she was awakened by her maid , and at a touch exclaimed , ` Have they gone ? ' and her heart still throbbed after hearing that most of the gentlemen were in and about the stables . Cecilia was down-stairs at a quarter to nine . The breakfast-room was empty of all but Lord Palmet and Mr. Wardour - Devereux ; one selecting a cigar to light out of doors , the other debating between two pipes .