four o'clock
Suddenly she felt what it would be to tell Miss Carew the truth -- Miss Carew , who was now her dependent , receiving from her £ 100 a year , would be shocked and startled out of her senses , and might not take these horrible revelations at all kindly . It would , anyhow , be such a reversal of their mutual positions as Molly could not face . And by the time the chestnut hair tinged with grey had been pinned a little crooked on Miss Carew 's head , and she had knocked timidly at Molly 's door , she was startled and offended by the impatient , overbearing tone of the voice that asked her to `` go back to bed and not to bother ; it was nothing that mattered . '' The night had got on further than Molly knew by that time , and she was relieved to hear it strike four o'clock . She was astonished at noticing that , while she had been walking up and down , up and down her room , she had never heard the clock strike two or three . The fact of having spoken to Miss Carew had brought her for the moment out of the inferno of the last few hours , and the time from four o'clock to six was less utterly miserable because worse had gone before it . At six she called the housemaid , and kept her fussing about the room , lighting the fire , and getting tea , so as not to be alone again .