four in the morning
Marcella sent money to Mrs. King to buy things for her in Sydney . They spent a whole Sunday evening making out the list . Many of the things he had learnt , from textbooks , to associate with babies , Mrs. Twist thought unnecessary , but Marcella , with no basic opinion of her own , let him have his way , and one day in May he took Gryphon , the Twist pony , to fetch the packages from the station . He was to be away one night -- starting at four in the morning he would rest at the hotel for the night and start back next morning . That night Marcella lay long awake , thinking about him . She was vaguely anxious ; when she fell asleep she dreamed that he came home to Castle Lashcairn drunk . He was talking French -- his eyes were wild , his mouth loose and slobbering , his tongue bitter .