nine o'clock
She took no notice of the discredit which her young friend appeared to throw on the idea that she had nerves , and betrayed no suspicion that he believed her to have them in about the same degree as a sound , productive Alderney cow . She only moved toward one of the numerous doors of the room , as if to remind him of all she had still to do before night . They passed together into the long , wide corridor of the hotel -- a vista of soft carpet , numbered doors , wandering women and perpetual gaslight -- and approached the staircase by which she must ascend again to her domestic duties . She counted over , serenely , for his enlightenment , those that were still to be performed ; but he could see that everything would be finished by nine o'clock -- the time she had fixed in advance . The heavy luggage was then to go to the steamer ; she herself was to be on board , with the children and the smaller things , at eleven o'clock the next morning . They had thirty pieces , but this was less than they had when they came from California five years before . She would n't have done that again .