ten o'clock
She was going to the mountains with Mr. Harrington and Miss Hastings : her cook , who had been with her seven years , had gone to attend a sick mother , and had recommended as a fit person to take her place the woman who had just left Tracy Park . ` I do not like to take a servant without first knowing something of her from her last employer , ' she said : ` and , if you do not mind , I should like to ask if Martha left for anything very bad . ' Mrs. Tracy colored scarlet , and for a moment was silent . She could not tell that fine lady in the white muslin dress , with seas of lace and embroidery , that Martha had called her _ second classy _ , and _ stingy _ and _ strooping _ , and _ mean _ , because she objected to the amount of coal burned , and bread thrown away , and time consumed at the table , besides turning down the gas in the kitchen when she thought it too light , to say nothing of turning it off at the meter at ten o'clock , just when the servants were beginning to enjoy themselves . All this she felt would scarcely interest a person like Mrs. Atherton , who might sympathize with Martha more than with herself , so she finally said : ` Martha was saucy to me , and on the whole it was better for them all to go ; and so I am doing my own work . ' ` Doing your own work ! ' and Grace gave a little cry of surprise , while her shoulders shrugged meaningly , and made Mrs. Tracy almost as angry as she had been with Martha when she called her mean and second-class .