ten o'clock
But before the maid came she went quickly downstairs , and into his presence , as instinctively as a drowning man might cling to anything that meant air -- just the essential air . They could not exchange a word alone , but that was not important . The one necessity was to be together . Before ten o'clock Norma went back to her room . She undressed , and put on a loose warm robe , and seated herself before the old-fashioned fireplace . When Regina came , she asked the girl to put out all the lights . Voices floated up from the front hall : the great entrance door closed , the motors wheeled away .