Six o'clock
For this reason Eleanor , the eldest daughter of the family , a girl of seventeen , had been recalled from a school in Paris sooner than would otherwise have been the case , and it was her expected arrival this very evening that had caused all the playroom commotion . It was a year , fully a year , since she had been at home , and it was no wonder that all her brothers and sisters rejoiced at her return , for she was kind and unselfish , bright and merry , and the old Manor House without her had lost half its sunshine . Five o'clock -- all the children are already at the windows , some at the door , though `` she can not be here till six or half-past , '' says mamma ; and nurse valiantly refuses to put on Towzer 's second clean frock for another hour at least . Six o'clock at last -- five minutes , ten minutes , a quarter past -- oh , how slowly the time goes ! At last wheels , unmistakable wheels up the drive ! Jack 's head poked ever so far out of the carriage window on one side , and Max 's on the other . A general shriek , `` They 've come !