nine o'clock
Of her he ventured not much to think . She was , perchance , the key whereby , for her and for himself , this dark riddle should hereafter be resolved . As Adam might labor for redemption only with his sin about his neck , so they , out of the fabric woven of their disgrace , must seek to fashion garments in which worthily to appear at heaven 's gates . As his mind rambled thus , he came to the outskirts of a long , wooded tract , which -- for the map , as he had seen it at the railway-station , was clearly marked out in his memory , from the beginning to the end of his route -- he knew was upward of ten miles from his starting-point ; and , as near as he could judge -LRB- his watch , lying at the bottom of the fountain-basin in the Parsonage-garden , had never been replaced -RRB- , it must be rather more than half-past nine o'clock . He maintained the same long , swinging trot , as unfalteringly as ever , though , perhaps , a trifle less springily than at first . The footing was deep and heavy , the thick fir-trees having kept the snow from being blown off the road , as in more exposed situations . Bressant was wet to his skin , for the temperature had risen , and the flakes melted as fast as they fell .