midnight
She felt cold and faint , and after she had taken off her hat and cloak she knelt down by the fire and stretched her hands to it . In one respect , at least , it was clear to her that she would do well to follow Sophy Viner 's counsel . It had been an act of folly to follow Owen , and her first business was to get back to Givre before him . But the only train leaving that evening was a slow one , which did not reach Francheuil till midnight , and she knew that her taking it would excite Madame de Chantelle 's wonder and lead to interminable talk . She had come up to Paris on the pretext of finding a new governess for Effie , and the natural thing was to defer her return till the next morning . She knew Owen well enough to be sure that he would make another attempt to see Miss Viner , and failing that , would write again and await her answer : so that there was no likelihood of his reaching Givre till the following evening . Her sense of relief at not having to start out at once showed her for the first time how tired she was .