eight o'clock in the evening
But I believe they 're a sort of greyish-blue . '' `` Not an uncommon colour for eyes , '' said Eunice , `` but rather peculiar for hair . '' They got to making fun of the picture , and Dan told them about Alice and her family ; the father left them at the table , and then came back with word from Dan 's mother that she was ready to see him . By eight o'clock in the evening the pain with which every day began for Mrs. Mavering was lulled , and her jarred nerves were stayed by the opiates till she fell asleep about midnight . In this interval the family gathered into her room , and brought her their news and the cheer of their health . The girls chattered on one side of her bed , and their father sat with his newspaper on the other , and read aloud the passages which he thought would interest her , while she lay propped among her pillows , brilliantly eager for the world opening this glimpse of itself to her shining eyes . That was on her good nights , when the drugs did their work , but there were times when they failed , and the day 's agony prolonged itself through the evening , and the sleep won at last was a heavy stupor .