five o'clock
After the hostess had risen and made a little speech , Aurora , unexpectedly to herself , and as if under inspiration , responded by a little speech of her own , composed on the spot . It was drowned at the end by hand-clapping all around the table . Aurora seemed to herself to be living in a fairy-story . * * * * * As it was after five o'clock when she reached home , she was sure she would find Gerald waiting for her . She had the whole day long been looking forward with a sweet agitation to the moment of being with him and telling him all about it . She was more disappointed than she remembered ever being , even as a child , not to find him or any word from him . She did not allow it to become later by more than half an hour before she scratched a line and sent the coachman to his house with it .