about nine
o'clock
Mr. Richards might have been a thousand miles away , for all any of the household saw of him ; and Grace , in the solitude of her own chamber , wondered over it a good deal of late . She sat at her window one December night , puzzling herself about it . Kate had not come down to dinner that day -- she had dined with the invalid in his rooms . When she had entered the drawing-room about nine o'clock , she looked pale and anxious , and was absent and _ distraite _ all the evening . Now that the house was still and all were in their rooms , Grace was wondering . Was Mr. Richards worse ? Why , then , did they not call in a Doctor ?