BRADEGAR Mr. Bradegab was not alarmed. That would have been an exaggeration, and a disparaging exaggeration—which is, in itself, so unusual as to awaken doubt. But Mr. Bradegar had been waked in an unusual way, in a way which—he would have been quite happy to allow it, had there been anyone to make happy by the allowance—might well have been alarming to a more highly strung nature. Indeed, the trouble about this sudden summons back from dreams to reality was that Mr. Bradegar was quite at a loss to know what it was that had summoned him. It was not “rosy-fingered dawn.” A glance hadn’t shown much—indeed, had shown so little that it seemed clear that dawn wasn’t in the offing and would not be for a long while; otherwise you ought to see where “the casement grows a glimmering square.” No—if he had his bearings right—it is hard to be sure when you are waked too quickly—but to the best of his knowledge, the window was where he was looking, and there was no suspicion of a glimmering square about it.
