midnight
But though she went to bed , she tossed restless and wakeful till the sun rose . The concealment of the master of Greenwood proved easy affair , for it was now the harvest season and the neighbouring farmers were far too engaged by their own interests to have thought of anything else , while the four miles was distance sufficient to deter the villagers from keeping an eye on the daily household life . For their own comfort , a place of concealment was arranged for the squire in the garret behind the big loom ; but thus assured of a retreat , he spent his time on the second floor , his only precautions being to avoid the windows in daylight hours and to keep Clarion at hand to give warning of any interloper . In the next few days Mrs. Meredith twice reverted to the subject of their midnight discussion , but each time only to find her husband unyieldingly persistent that Janice was pledged to Philemon , and that if this bar did not exist , he would never countenance Brereton 's suit . As for the girl , she shunned all allusion to the matter , taking refuge in a proud silence . In September an unexpected event brought the difficulty to a crisis . One evening , after the work of the day was over , as they sat in Mrs. Meredith 's room , waiting for the dusk to deepen enough for beds to become welcome , a creak of the stairs set all three to listening , and brought Clarion to his feet .