Catherine was much perplexed as to how she was to carry out her resolution; she pondered over it through much of the night.

She was painfully anxious to make Elsmere understand without a scene, without a definite proposal and a definite rejection.

It was no use letting things drift.

Something brusque and marked there must be.

She quietly made her dispositions.
It was long after the gray vaporous morning stole on the hills before she fell lightly, restlessly asleep.