eight o'clock
The man , as she knew , had been told to come at one on that day , and she had been prepared ; but he did not come , and she then thought that the letter , which had been addressed to his late residence , had failed to reach him . During the night she wrote a very long answer to Sir William pleading her own cause , expatiating on her own feelings , and palliating any desperate deed which she might be tempted to perform . But , when the letter had been copied and folded , and duly sealed with the Lovel arms , she locked it in her desk , and did not send it on its way even on the following morning . When the morning came , shortly after eight o'clock , Mrs. Richards brought up the message which Daniel had left at the door . `` Be we to let him in , my lady ? '' said Mrs. Richards with supplicating hands upraised . Her sympathies were all with Lady Anna , but she feared the Countess , and did not dare in such a matter to act without the mother 's sanction .