At last I gave up trying, half in the hope that it might steal upon me unawares.

I thought of the play and the ball, of poor Charles and his debts--of anything and everything--but it was no good.

In the midst of a jumble of disconnected ideas I suddenly found myself listening again to the silence--listening as if it had been broken by a sound which I had not heard.

My watch ticked loud and louder on the dressing-table, and presently I gave quite a start as the distant stable clock tolled out the hour: One, two, three, four.

I had gone to bed before three.