half past five
How should he ever satisfy his own accusing conscience ? Excuses for his conduct were plenty enough indeed ; his excitement , his provocation , his freedom from malice ; he marshalled them in orderly array ; but , under the cold logic of events , one by one they crumbled and fell away . More and more heavily , more and more depressingly the enormity of his offense weighed upon him as he considered it , and what the outcome of it all would be he did not even dare to conjecture . At half past five his Aunt Millicent returned . She looked in at him from the hall , greeted him pleasantly , said something about the miserable weather , and then went on about her household duties . Dinner had been waiting for fifteen minutes before Colonel Butler reached home , and , in the mild excitement attendant upon his return , Pen 's injuries escaped notice . But , at the dinner-table , under the brightness of the hanging lamps , he could no longer conceal his condition .