ten o'clock
Ernst and she have always kept up the most friendly understanding with each other , although she refused his hand ; and it is a noble characteristic of my Ernst , and one which , in his sex , is not often found , that this rejection did not make him indifferent to the person who gave it . On the contrary , he professes the most warm admiration of this Emilie , and has not ceased to correspond with her ; and I , for I read all their letters , can not but confess her extraordinary knowledge and acuteness . But to know all this near is what I would indeed be very gladly excused , since I can not help thinking that my husband 's `` old flame '' has something of cold-heartedness in her , and my heart has no great inclination to become warm towards her . It strikes ten o'clock . Ernst will not come home before twelve . I shall leave you now , Cecilia , that -- shall I confess my secret to you ? You know that one of my greatest pleasures is the reading of a good novel , but this pleasure I have almost entirely renounced , because whenever I have a really interesting one in my hand , I find the most cruel difficulty in laying it down before I reach the last page .