night, about nine o'clock
This time Gwenda knew what Mary was thinking . `` It is n't that , '' she said . `` It 's something he 's said to Papa . '' That night , about nine o'clock , Gwenda came for the third time to Rowcliffe at his house . She was shown into his study , where Rowcliffe was reading . Though the servant had prepared him for her , he showed signs of agitation . Gwenda 's eyes were ominously somber and she had the white face of a ghost , a face that to Rowcliffe , as he looked at it , recalled the white face of Alice .