about one o'clock
By this private entrance I found my way into her chamber , and without difficulty persuaded her to return to my room and sleep with me . We accordingly lay down together , she undressed , and I with my clothes on , for I was every moment walking up and down the room , and felt too nervous and miserable to think of rest or comfort . Emily was soon fast asleep , and I lay awake , fervently longing for the first pale gleam of morning , reckoning every stroke of the old clock with an impatience which made every hour appear like six . It must have been about one o'clock when I thought I heard a slight noise at the partition-door between Emily 's room and mine , as if caused by somebody 's turning the key in the lock . I held my breath , and the same sound was repeated at the second door of my room -- that which opened upon the lobby -- the sound was here distinctly caused by the revolution of the bolt in the lock , and it was followed by a slight pressure upon the door itself , as if to ascertain the security of the lock . The person , whoever it might be , was probably satisfied , for I heard the old boards of the lobby creak and strain , as if under the weight of somebody moving cautiously over them . My sense of hearing became unnaturally , almost painfully acute .