four o'clock
Her tongue clicked the faster as Amelia 's halted . She put away her work altogether , and sat , with wagging head and eloquent hands , still holding forth on the changes which might be wrought in the house : a bay window here , a sofa there , new chairs , tables , and furnishings . Amelia 's mind swam in a sea of green rep , and she found herself looking up from time to time at her mellowed four walls , to see if they sparkled in desirable yet somewhat terrifying gilt paper . At four o'clock , when Amos swung into the yard with the oxen , she was remorsefully conscious of heaving a sigh of relief ; and she bade him in to the cup of tea ready for him by the fire with a sympathetic sense that too little was made of Amos , and that perhaps only she , at that moment , understood his habitual frame of mind . He drank his tea in silence , the while aunt Ann , with much relish , consumed doughnuts and cheese , having spread a wide handkerchief in her lap to catch the crumbs . Amos never varied in his rôle of automaton ; and Amelia talked rapidly , in the hope of protecting him from verbal avalanches . But she was not to succeed .