about twelve o'clock in the morning
` It really seems , ' said Agatha , with a weary sigh , ` that Mr. Lester 's legacy will prove anything but a blessing ! I do wish people would leave us alone . ' But a short time afterwards Major Lester 's wrath and Miss Miller 's strong partisanship in his cause were quite eclipsed by a greater trouble . Agatha took in _ The Times _ , and it was generally delivered at their house about twelve o'clock in the morning , by the postmistress 's little boy , directly he came home from school . One morning Clare met him at the gate , and opened it herself . She was feeling anxious and uneasy . For the first time Captain Knox had missed the mail , and she was full of gloomy forebodings .