five o'clock
At quarter to six that evening Laura sat in the library , before the fireplace , in her black velvet dinner gown , cutting the pages of a new novel , the ivory cutter as it turned and glanced in her hand , appearing to be a mere prolongation of her slender fingers . But she was not interested in the book , and from time to time glanced nervously at the clock upon the mantel-shelf over her head . Jadwin was not home yet , and she was distressed at the thought of keeping dinner waiting . He usually came back from down town at five o'clock , and even earlier . To-day she had expected that quite possibly the business implied in the Liverpool cable of the morning might detain him , but surely he should be home by now ; and as the minutes passed she listened more and more anxiously for the sound of hoofs on the driveway at the side of the house . At five minutes of the hour , when Corthell was announced , there was still no sign of her husband . But as she was crossing the hall on her way to the drawing-room , one of the servants informed her that Mr. Jadwin had just telephoned that he would be home in half an hour .