twenty
minutes past two
She was glad enough to bring about by various movements their long-delayed bedward journey . She was beginning to feel that her head and her heart were both aching , and that any more confidences from Emmy would be unbearable . And where Emmy had grown communicative -- since Emmy had nothing to conceal -- Jenny had felt more and more that her happiness was staled as thought corroded it . By the time they turned out the kitchen gas the clock pointed to twenty minutes past two , and the darkest hour was already recorded . In three more hours the sun would rise , and Jenny knew that long before then she would see the sky greying as though the successive veils of the transformation were to reveal the crystal grotto . She preceded Emmy up the stairs , carrying a candle and lighting the way . At the top of the staircase Emmy would find her own candle , and they would part .