the hour of twelve
His sister left the room with a gesture of annoyance . Suddenly the little man 's queer , cackling laugh ceased , and his wrinkled face grew sad and thoughtful as he sighed : `` I 'm the only Dimmerly who was ever ` stopped , ' -- fool that I was . His mother , sister Celia , would marry a poor man ; and her life , in spite of all her toil and privation , has been happier than mine '' ; and he shook his head pathetically over `` what might have been . '' The marble clock on the mantel chimed out the hour of twelve , and the young people came flocking in from the dining-room , their noisy mirth hushed as they remembered that the sacred hours of the Christmas Sabbath had begun . `` I have induced Miss Martell to give us a Christmas hymn before parting , '' said Harcourt ; and he led Alice to the piano , as if there had been some preconcerted arrangement . Lottie went to her uncle 's side , and took his arm in a sort of wheedling , affectionate way . She was beginning instinctively to recognize that she had an ally and sympathizer in him .