four o’clock in the evening
`` Never you fear . '' That was all she could extract from him , though he looked very arch . The Ladies ' Committee accepted of their representatives with full consent ; and the indefatigable Dr. Spencer next had to hunt up the fellow trustee . He finally contrived to collect every one he wanted at Fordholm , the case was laid before the College -- the College was propitious , and by four o'clock in the evening , Dr. Spencer laid before Ethel the promise of the piece of land . Mary 's joy was unbounded , and Ethel blushed , and tried to thank . This would have been the summit of felicity a year ago , and she was vexed with herself for feeling that though land and money were both in such safe hands , she could not care sufficiently to feel the ecstasy the attainment of her object would once have given to her . Then she would have been frantic with excitement , and heedless of everything ; now she took it so composedly as to annoy herself .