ten o'clock
It was in May that Mr. Hamerton had come to us , for Easter that year fell in that month ; and the weather after that , which had been very bitter in the winter , with so much snow as I never saw before , but clearer about Eastertime , fell very wet and stormy again in June . It was on a Thursday evening , in the first week in June , that the bad weather set in with a violent storm of rain and a high wind . We sat in the Great Chamber after supper , and had some music as usual : and between the music we listened to the gusts of wind and the rattle of the rain , which made so great a noise that Dolly said that it was no use for her to go to bed yet , for that she would not sleep if she went . Her maid went to bed ; and we three sat talking till nearly half-past ten o'clock , which is very late for the country where men rise at four o'clock . The wind made such a noise that we heard nothing of the approach to the house ; and the first that we knew of anyone 's coming was a hammering at the door . `` Why , who is that ; '' said I , `` that comes so late ? '' I could see that my Cousin Tom did not like it , for his face shewed it -- -LRB- I suppose it was the memory of that other time when the hammering came -RRB- -- so I said nothing , but went myself to the outer door and unbolted it .