nine o'clock
How strange , she thinks , to sit three or four hours over a dinner , and yet , if the professor talked , she could listen forever . Does Mr. Grandon ever talk in that manner ? A fine thrill speeds along her nerves , a sort of pride in him , a secret joy that he is hers . Oh , it is only nine o'clock ! Violet tries to interest herself in a novel , but it is stupid work . There are voices down-stairs and she catches Marcia 's inane little laugh . They never ask her down , because she is in deep mourning , and Gertrude has kindly told her that people do not go in society for at least six months when they have lost a near relative .