two o'clock
If I am old and dying , my eyes are better than yours . My poor Ulpian ! '' Despite her knowledge of the feverish condition of the sick woman , and her incredulity with reference to the vision that so painfully disturbed her , Salome 's lips blanched , and a vague , nameless , horrible dread seized her heart . Very soon Miss Jane fell into a heavy sleep , and , while the nurse busied herself in preparing a bottle of beef-tea , the orphan sat with her head pressed against the bedpost , and her eyes riveted on the face of the watch in her palm , where the minute-hand seemed now and then to stop , as if for breathing-time , and the hour-hand to have forgotten the way to two o'clock . For nearly six months Salome had counted the weeks and days , -- had waited and hoped for the hour of Dr. Grey 's return as the happiest of her life , -- had imagined his greeting , the bright , steady glow in his fine eyes , the warm , cordial pressure of his white hand , the friendly tones of his pleasant voice ; for , though he had failed to bid her good-by , fate could not cheat her out of the interview that must follow his arrival . Fancy had painted so vividly all the incidents that would characterize this longed-for greeting , that she had lived it over a thousand times ; and , now that the meeting seemed actually at hand , she asked herself whether it were possible that disappointment could pour one poisonous drop into the brimming draught of joy that rose foaming in amber bubbles to her parched lips . In the profound silence that pervaded the darkened room , the ticking of the watch was annoyingly audible , and seemed to Salome 's strained and excited nerves so unusually loud that she feared it might disturb the sleeper .