five o'clock
But I 'll see , I 'll see . '' The two men rose and shook hands , as men shake hands when they have an understanding . `` I 'm glad you are doing well , '' Mr. Mavick added ; `` your life is before you , mine is behind me ; that makes a heap of difference . '' Within a few days Philip received a note from Mrs. Mavick -- not an effusive note , not an explanatory note , not an apologetic note , simply a note as if nothing unusual had happened -- if Mr. Burnett had leisure , would he drop in at five o'clock in Irving Place for a cup of tea ? Not one minute by his watch after the hour named , Philip rang the bell and was shown into a little parlor at the front . There was only one person in the room , a lady in exquisite toilet , who rose rather languidly to meet him , exactly as if the visitor were accustomed to drop in to tea at that hour . Philip hesitated a moment near the door , embarrassed by a mortifying recollection of his last interview with Mrs. Mavick , and in that moment he saw her face .