about four o'clock in the morning
He called as much on Farfrae 's account as on Lucetta 's , and on Elizabeth-Jane 's even more than on either 's . Shorn one by one of all other interests , his life seemed centring on the personality of the stepdaughter whose presence but recently he could not endure . To see her on each occasion of his inquiry at Lucetta 's was a comfort to him . The last of his calls was made about four o'clock in the morning , in the steely light of dawn . Lucifer was fading into day across Durnover Moor , the sparrows were just alighting into the street , and the hens had begun to cackle from the outhouses . When within a few yards of Farfrae 's he saw the door gently opened , and a servant raise her hand to the knocker , to untie the piece of cloth which had muffled it . He went across , the sparrows in his way scarcely flying up from the road-litter , so little did they believe in human aggression at so early a time .