nine o'clock in the evening
We knew she was fair ; for there was in one of the letters a tiny curl of pale brown hair ; but we believed from many expressions of hers that she had no beauty . Oh , if I could but have known how she looked ! At last I fell asleep , and slept heavily until after dark . This refreshed my overwrought nerves , and when at nine o'clock in the evening I joined my uncle in the library , I was calmer than he . We said very few words . I sat on his knee , with one arm around his neck , and hand in hand we reverently lifted the frail , trembling sheets . We learned nothing new ; in fact , almost any one of the letters was a rounded revelation of Esther 's nature , and of the great love she bore -- and there was little more to learn .