four o'clock in the morning
Matilde looked about her , and hesitated a moment . Then , setting the candlestick down , she knelt upon the floor , and thrust the package as far as she could under the chest of drawers . Of all the things she had to do , in the course of that night and the following day , this was the only one with which any danger was connected , for at any moment Elettra might have come from Veronica 's room to her own . The thing was possible , but not probable , between three and four o'clock in the morning . It did not happen , and when Matilde left the room and softly closed the door behind her , all was safe . Before she went to bed , she entered the dining-room , poured herself out a glass of strong Sicilian wine from a decanter on the sideboard and drank it at a draught , for she was very tired . She left the decanter and the glass on the table , so that any one might see them .