one
o'clock
Meanwhile happiness and expectation were high in the breasts of the happy lovers , Alfgar and Ethelgiva . The morrow was to unite them . The ladies sat up nearly all night making the wedding robes complete , and richly adorning them -- Hilda , Bertha , and Ethelgiva , with many skilful handmaidens . They had almost finished their task , and were about to separate , when St. Frideswide 's bell tolled the first hour of the morning -LRB- one o'clock -RRB- . `` We are very late , '' said the lady Hilda , as well she might , for our ancestors generally retired early , as they rose early ; and they bade each other goodnight . `` Happy , happy Ethelgiva ! '' said the mother as she kissed her darling , not without a maternal sigh , for she felt as if she were losing her only child , who had for so many a year been the light of their woodland home -- her only child , who had filled not simply her own place in their affections , but as far as she might the place of the loved Bertric .