eleven o'clock
Even after hearing of the death of my brother , a cowardly , half-superstitious dread kept me from destroying it , though doubtless I would have done so soon after making my own will had I not been prevented by circumstances unforeseen , which I will now state . `` The events which I am about to relate are stamped upon my brain as though by fire ; they have haunted me day and night for the past five months . On the seventh of July last , I made and executed my will in favor of my namesake , Hugh Mainwaring , and on the following day -- his birthday and mine -- he was to be declared my heir . It was past eleven o'clock on the night of that day when I retired to my private library , and it was fully an hour later when , having dismissed my secretary , I finally found myself alone , as I supposed , for the night . My thoughts were far from pleasant . I had just had a stormy interview with my housekeeper , Mrs. LaGrange , who had tried , as on previous occasions , to coerce me by threats into a private marriage and a public recognition of her as my wife and of her child and mine ; and , in addition , the occurrences of the day had been of a nature to recall the past , and events which I usually sought to bury in oblivion were passing before my mental vision despite my efforts to banish them . Suddenly a voice which seemed like an echo of the past recalled me to the present .