four o'clock
The hours , indeed , seemed endless ! She was ready to weep with impatience , with despair ! She paced up and down the room ; then she again stood at the window for a while , then she sat down and took up for a short time the novel which she had brought with her in her travelling bag ; she attempted , too , to go to sleep -- but did not succeed in doing so . At length four o'clock struck -- nearly three hours had passed since she had begun her vigil . There was a knock at the door . The commissionaire came into the room and handed her a letter . She tore open the envelope and with an involuntary movement , so as to conceal the expression on her features from the stranger , she turned towards the window .