nearly noon
She awoke , trembling , and lit her lamp . It was nearly four o'clock , and she had slept but half an hour . Near her bed was an American magazine ; she read the advertisements , to fill her mind with thoughts commonplace and practical enough to banish dreams . The sun was rising when at last she fell asleep , and she did not awake until nearly noon . The morning 's mail brought her a letter from John Derby -- a good letter , simple and frank , like himself , full of enthusiasm and of plans for making the `` Little Devil '' a model settlement . He would arrive in Rome , he told her , within a week . But even John 's letter gave her only a few moments ' relief from her distressing memories .