noon
She had left her hat and her bundle behind the door . She put on the hat in the darkness of the hall with steady fingers , took up the well-filled shawl strap and went forth , closing the door behind her . In the morning they would find the door unlocked but that would not cause much talk , as Sutherland people were all rather careless about locking up . They would not knock at the door of her room until noon , perhaps . Then they would find on the pincushion the letter she had written to her uncle , saying good-by and explaining that she had decided to remove forever the taint of her mother and herself from their house and their lives -- a somewhat theatrical letter , modeled upon Ouida , whom she thought the greatest writer that had ever lived , Victor Hugo and two or three poets perhaps excepted . Her bundle was not light , but she hardly felt it as she moved swiftly through the deserted , moonlit streets toward the river . The wharf boat for the Cincinnati and Louisville mail steamers was anchored at the foot of Pine Street .