three o'clock
While the letter which she had read neither proved nor disproved such a supposition , the woman yet felt a secret and sure conviction in her heart that Noy was coming back innocent at least of any desperate action . That he was in Cornwall again and a free man appeared to her proof sufficient that he had not committed violence . Mary allowed her anxiety to interfere with no duty . By three o'clock she was ready to set out , and , looking from her bedroom window as she tied on her hat , she saw Joe Noy approaching up the hill . A minute later she was at the door , and stood there waiting with her eyes upon him as he came up the path . Then she looked down , and to the man it seemed as though she was gazing at his right hand which held a stick . '' 'T is as it was , Mary Chirgwin -- my hands be white , '' he said .