nine o'clock
There were times when she bitterly , childishly , regretted it . She could almost have hated Ellesborough , because she loved him so well ; and because of the terror , the ceaseless preoccupation that her love had begun to impose upon her . Janet , watching her come in , saw that the radiance had departed , and that she crept about again like a tired woman . When , after nine o'clock , they were alone by the fire , again and again it was on the tip of Janet 's tongue to say , `` Tell me , who was Dick Tanner ? '' Then , in a sudden panic fear , lest the words should slip out , and bring something irreparable , she would get up , and make a restless pretence of some household work or other , only to sit down and begin the same inward debate once more . But she said nothing , and Rachel , too , was silent . She sat over the fire , apparently half asleep .