three o'clock
in the morning
`` I think I had better go and look for mamma and Mrs. Scobel , '' she said ; `` they must have come back from the supper-room by this time . '' Roderick rose and offered her his arm . She was surprised to see how pale he looked when they came out of the dusk into the brilliant light of the gallery . But in a heated room , and between two and three o'clock in the morning , a man may naturally be a little paler than usual . Roderick took Violet straight to the end of the room , where his quick eye had espied Mrs. Tempest in her striking black and scarlet costume . He said nothing more about the Duchess or Lady Mabel ; and , indeed , took Violet past the elder lady , who was sitting in one of the deep-set windows with Lady Southminster , without attempting to bring about any interchange of civilities . `` Captain Winstanley has been kind enough to go and look for the carriage , Violet , '' said Mrs. Tempest .