four o'clock
The general 's utmost anger could not be to herself what it might be to a daughter ; and , besides , she thought the examination itself would be more satisfactory if made without any companion . It would be impossible to explain to Eleanor the suspicions , from which the other had , in all likelihood , been hitherto happily exempt ; nor could she therefore , in her presence , search for those proofs of the general 's cruelty , which however they might yet have escaped discovery , she felt confident of somewhere drawing forth , in the shape of some fragmented journal , continued to the last gasp . Of the way to the apartment she was now perfectly mistress ; and as she wished to get it over before Henry 's return , who was expected on the morrow , there was no time to be lost . The day was bright , her courage high ; at four o'clock , the sun was now two hours above the horizon , and it would be only her retiring to dress half an hour earlier than usual . It was done ; and Catherine found herself alone in the gallery before the clocks had ceased to strike . It was no time for thought ; she hurried on , slipped with the least possible noise through the folding doors , and without stopping to look or breathe , rushed forward to the one in question . The lock yielded to her hand , and , luckily , with no sullen sound that could alarm a human being .