about nine
o'clock
Silvia asked her , and she had replied that while it probably had been , the chances were that a rough draft of it had been written , and preserved somewhere , and it was for this that she searched until it became evident that the slight resources of the flat were exhausted . It was rather a poor little place , woefully lacking in the closets and cubby-holes so dear to women , and yet , as Carroll sat there in the child 's place , with her second cup of strong tea getting cold beside her , she found herself looking at the other chair expectantly , and the empty desk seemed watching her ; she was resentfully conscious that everything in that room knew the truth , everything save its human occupant with her keen mind , her active brain . The hours passed and still she sat there , waiting , waiting . There were the usual noises , commonplace and mysterious , to be found in vacant houses , but about nine o'clock she became conscious that there were sounds in the recently vacated flat below . Evidently the family had come back for some last articles which they had left behind . They were a quiet old couple with whom Carroll had exchanged greetings now and then on the stairs ; the old lady had told her they were going to live with their daughter . Carroll roused herself and lit the gas , and a little while later there came a tap at the door .