Twelve o'clock
The girl did not answer him . She listened to the shutting of the door as it closed behind him , and then folded her arms upon the iron rail of the balcony , laid her head upon them , and wept silently . Her life was very dreary , and it seemed to her as if the last hope which had sustained her against an unnatural despair had been taken away from her to-night . Twelve o'clock sounded with a feeble little _ carillon _ from one of the steeples , and still she sat with her head resting upon her folded arms . Her eyes were quite dry by this time , for with her tears were very rare , and the passion which occasioned them must needs be intense . The night air grew chill and damp ; but although she shivered now and then beneath that creeping , penetrating cold which is peculiar to night air , she did not stir from her place in the balcony till she was startled by the opening of the door in the room behind her . All was dark within , but Diana Paget was very familiar with the footstep that sounded on the carpetless floor .