nearly three o'clock
Yet the alarm-clock was giving its usual sturdy , noisy tick , and the sun was high . Then she refused to believe that the alarm had gone off , and in order to remain firm in her belief she refrained from any testing of the mechanism , which might -- indeed , would -- have proved that the alarm had in fact gone off . It became with her an article of dogma that on that particular morning , of all mornings , the very reliable alarm-clock had failed in its duty . The truth was that she had lain awake till nearly three o'clock , turning from side to side and thinking bitterly upon the imperfections of human nature , and had then fallen into a deep , invigorating sleep from which perhaps half a dozen alarm-clocks might not have roused her . She arose full of health and anger , and in a few minutes she was out of the bedroom , for she had not fully undressed ; like many women , when there was watching to be done , she loved to keep her armour on and to feel the exciting strain of the unusual in every movement . She fell on Mrs. Tams as Mrs. Tams was coming upstairs after letting out the doctor and refreshing herself with cocoa in the kitchen . A careless observer might have thought from their respective attitudes that it was Mrs. Tarns , and not Rachel , who had overslept herself .