about three o'clock
`` Easy life ! Drudgery ! But _ here I swear from this hour Molly Pierrepont will live no longer such a life _ . '' Ben Hartright reached his home in Orange street about three o'clock , noiselessly opened the door and strode up to his apartments , thinking he would get to bed without disturbing his young wife ; but she was not there . The bed remained as it was when the chambermaid left it that morning , after giving it its finishing touches . Ben Hartright looked about the room in wild amazement . He drew out his watch , scanned its face eagerly .