An hour after midnight
They were sure that no daughters could be more perfectly considerate and ready to sacrifice everything to their father . In the end , they deputed the volunteering Adela to sit with him in the library , and put the question of Besworth decisively , in the name of all . They , meantime , who had a contempt for sleep , waited aloft to hold debate over the result of the interview . An hour after midnight , Adela came to them , looking pale and uncertain : her curls seeming to drip , and her blue eyes wandering about the room , as if she had seen a thing that kept her in a quiver between belief and doubt . The two ladies drew near to her , expressing no verbal impatience , from which the habit of government and great views naturally saved them , but singularly curious . Adela 's first exclamation : `` I wish I had not gone , '' alarmed them . `` Has any change come to papa ? ''