about seven o'clock in the evening
For some time Sir Edward kept steadily to his seat , and though powerless to check the animal 's course was able to guide it ; but in spite of all his efforts the trap was at last upset , and he was thrown violently to the ground . He had no groom with him , and the accident took place on a lonely road , so that it was not till an hour later that help came , in the shape of a farmer returning from market in his cart . He found Sir Edward unconscious , and the horse still feebly struggling to extricate himself from under the trap , which was badly broken . It was about seven o'clock in the evening when Sir Edward was brought home , and he had three ribs broken , besides some very severe injuries to his head . The doctor wished to telegraph for a nurse from London , but Sir Edward had a horror of them , and having recovered consciousness shook his head vehemently when it was suggested ; and so it ended in Milly 's nurse volunteering to assist his valet in nursing him . Poor little Milly wandered about the house with Fritz at her heels in a very woe-begone fashion . What with the anxiety in her heart lest her uncle should die , and the absence of her nurse -- who could spare little time now to look after her -- she felt most forlorn , and her greatest comfort was to go down to the keeper 's cottage and talk to Mrs. Maxwell .