about nine o'clock
During the few short hours that Coursegol spent at home , he was always absorbed in his calculations ; and as for Vauquelas , though he treated her with rather cold respect , it was difficult to ascertain his real feelings toward her , for his furrowed face betrayed none of his impressions ; and Dolores instinctively felt that she could not look to him for the consolation of which she stood so greatly in need . Her mornings were spent over the account-books , which had been entrusted to her charge ; at noon , she partook of a solitary repast , and it was only at dinner that she saw Coursegol and her host . One stormy evening in October , she was sitting in her chamber , a room upon the first-floor , opening into the garden by a glass door over which hung a heavy curtain . It was about nine o'clock . Vauquelas and Coursegol had gone out ; the servants had retired , and Dolores was quite alone . Seated in a low chair before the fire , she was busying herself with her embroidery ; but it was easy to see that her thoughts were not upon her work . She was brooding over the past and wondering in what quarter of the globe she might hope to find her lost friends .