eight o'clock
The time passed incredibly in this watching . She had upon her such a fear and even premonition that he might not come , that the minutes passed with the horrible swiftness that they pass for a criminal awaiting execution . The first time she slipped out in the dining-room -- with a last look at the lawn and road , to be sure that he would not be there in the mean time -- to see what time it was by the clock on the shelf , she was amazed . It was already eight o'clock . She had not dreamed it was more than half-past seven . She crept back to her place by the parlor window , with the feeling that much of her time of reprieve had passed , and that she was so much the nearer the certainty of tribulation . Instead of impatience she had rather the desire to defer approaching disaster .