one o'clock
Would Mrs. Wortle kindly come and see her ? Mrs. Wortle was , of course , bound to do as she was asked , and started at once . But she was , in truth , but little able to give counsel on any subject outside the one which was at the moment nearest to her heart . At one o'clock , when the boys went to their dinner , Mary was to instruct her father as to the purport of the letter which was to be sent to Lord Bracy , -- and Mary had not as yet come to any decision . She could not go to her father for aid ; -- she could not , at any rate , go to him until the appointed hour should come ; and she was , therefore , entirely thrown upon her mother . Had she been old enough to understand the effect and the power of character , she would have known that , at the last moment , her father would certainly decide for her , -- and had her experience of the world been greater , she might have been quite sure that her father would decide in her favour . But as it was , she was quivering and shaking in the dark , leaning on her mother 's very inefficient aid , nearly overcome with the feeling that by one o'clock she must be ready to say something quite decided .