about eight
o'clock
Several strange facts combined against her , which might have staggered any one who had not such proof of her innocence as I had . She had been out the whole of the night on which the murder had been committed , and towards morning had been perceived by a market-woman not far from the spot where the body of the murdered child had been afterwards found . The woman asked her what she did there ; but she looked very strangely , and only returned a confused and unintelligible answer . She returned to the house about eight o'clock ; and , when one enquired where she had passed the night , she replied that she had been looking for the child , and demanded earnestly if any thing had been heard concerning him . When shown the body , she fell into violent hysterics , and kept her bed for several days . The picture was then produced , which the servant had found in her pocket ; and when Elizabeth , in a faltering voice , proved that it was the same which , an hour before the child had been missed , she had placed round his neck , a murmur of horror and indignation filled the court . Justine was called on for her defence .