three o'clock
He only knows ; but at least we may pray . Let me tell Isabel ; a child 's prayers are mighty with Him ; and she has the soul of a little child still . '' So Isabel was told ; and after church she came up to dine at the Hall and spend the day there ; for Lady Maxwell was thoroughly nervous and upset : she trembled at the sound of footsteps , and cried out when one of the men came into the room suddenly . Isabel went again to evening prayer at three o'clock ; but could not keep her thoughts off the strange nervous horror at the Hall , though it seemed to rest on no better foundation than the waking dreams of an old lady -- and her mind strayed away continually from the darkening chapel in which she sat , so near where Sir Nicholas himself lay , to the upstairs parlour where the widow sat shaken and trembling at her own curious fancies about her dear son . Mr. Bodder 's sermon came to an end at last ; and Isabel was able to get away , and hurry back to the Hall . She found the old ladies as she had left them in the little drawing-room , Lady Maxwell sitting on the window-seat near the harp , preoccupied and apparently listening for something she knew not what . Mistress Margaret was sitting in a tall padded porter 's chair reading aloud from an old English mystic , but her sister was paying no attention , and looked strangely at the girl as she came in .