eight o’clock
Owen , too , seemed to prefer the plan . The capricious old maid had latterly taken to the contemplation of the wedding with even greater warmth than had at first inspired her , and appeared determined to do everything in her power , consistent with her dignity , to render the adjuncts of the ceremony pleasing and complete . But the weather seemed in flat contradiction of the whole proceeding . At eight o'clock the coachman crept up to the House almost upon his hands and knees , entered the kitchen , and stood with his back to the fire , panting from his exertions in pedestrianism . The kitchen was by far the pleasantest apartment in Knapwater House on such a morning as this . The vast fire was the centre of the whole system , like a sun , and threw its warm rays upon the figures of the domestics , wheeling about it in true planetary style . A nervously-feeble imitation of its flicker was continually attempted by a family of polished metallic utensils standing in rows and groups against the walls opposite , the whole collection of shines nearly annihilating the weak daylight from outside .