one o'clock at night
The boards had been worn and jarred a little away from each other , and the letters were gradually shaken through the opening ; some heavier or quicker step than usual giving always the final impetus to a letter which had been for days slowly working down towards the fated outlet . Stealthily as any burglar he had crept about his own house , had taken up the whole of the front staircase carpet , and had with trouble pried off one board of the stair in which the letters were hid . There had been a spring , he found , but it was rusted and would not yield . He had carefully replaced the carpet , carried the letters into the library , and come for me ; it was now half-past one o'clock at night . Dear , blessed Uncle Jo ! I am an old woman now . Good men and strong men have given me love , and have shown me of their love for others ; but never did I feel myself so in the living presence of incarnate love as I did that night , sitting with my white-haired uncle , face to face with the faded records of the love of Esther Wynn .