What did it mean by beginning to tick so loudly all of a sudden?
Its face indicated ten minutes to nine.

Mrs Verloc cared nothing for time, and the ticking went on.

She concluded it could not be the clock, and her sullen gaze moved along the walls, wavered, and became vague, while she strained her hearing to locate the sound.

Tic, tic, tic.
After listening for some time Mrs Verloc lowered her gaze deliberately on her husband's body.

Its attitude of repose was so home-like and familiar that she could do so without feeling embarrassed by any pronounced novelty in the phenomena of her home life.