ten o'clock
He should write to Julia and offer her a smallish sum down in case the bulb proved to be of no great worth , and a promise of a proportional percentage afterwards if it proved valuable . This idea pleased him very well ; it satisfied his notions of integrity and fair dealing and also his thrifty soul , which found trying the otherwise unavoidable duty of paying a long price for what had been freely given . From this Joost could not move him , so there was nothing for him to do but write distressfully to Julia and explain and apologise . Julia was at work in the kitchen ; it was ten o'clock on a November morning and she was busy ; Captain Polkington had had breakfast up-stairs , he often did now , and it delayed the morning 's work . Mr. Gillat brought in two letters which the postman had left ; both were for Julia , but she had not time to read them now , so she put them down on the table ; they would keep ; she did not feel greatly interested to know what was inside them . Things did not interest her as they used ; in some imperceptible way she had aged ; some of the elasticity and youth was gone , perhaps because hope was gone . It had been dying all the summer , ever since the day when she crouched behind the chopping-block ; but gently and gradually , as the year dies , with some beauties unknown in early days and little recurrent spurts of hope and youth , like the flowers that bloom into winter 's lap .