nine o’clock
Then she saw that all the windows in the room had been set wide open , to give her air ; and that she and the agent were still alone . At first she felt bewildered , and hardly knew who he was ; but he soon recalled to her mind the horrible realities that had brought him there , by apologizing for not having summoned assistance when she fainted . He said it was of the last importance , in Franval 's absence , that no one in the house should imagine that anything unusual was taking place in it . Then , after giving her an interval of a minute or two to collect what little strength she had left , he added that he would not increase her sufferings by saying anything more , just then , on the shocking subject of the investigation which it was his duty to make -- that he would leave her to recover herself , and to consider what was the best course to be taken with the baroness in the present terrible emergency -- and that he would privately return to the house between eight and nine o'clock that evening , ready to act as Miss Welwyn wished , and to afford her and her sister any aid and protection of which they might stand in need . With these words he bowed , and noiselessly quitted the room . For the first few awful minutes after she was left alone , Miss Welwyn sat helpless and speechless ; utterly numbed in heart , and mind , and body -- then a sort of instinct -LRB- she was incapable of thinking -RRB- seemed to urge her to conceal the fearful news from her sister as long as possible . She ran upstairs to Rosamond 's sitting-room , and called through the door -LRB- for she dared not trust herself in her sister 's presence -RRB- that the visitor had come on some troublesome business from their late father 's lawyers , and that she was going to shut herself up , and write some long letters in connection with that business .