four o'clock
he cried , springing to his feet . Laura looked out at the window so that she might not meet his eye as she answered , in a barely audible voice -- `` There was a scandal , and he deserted her ; and afterward -- only last week -- she ran away , nobody knows where , but they think to Boston . '' It was about two o'clock in the afternoon when Henry heard the fate of Madeline . By four o'clock he was on his way back to Boston . The expression of his face as he sits in the car is not that which might be expected under the circumstances . It is not that of a man crushed by a hopeless calamity , but rather of one sorely stricken indeed , but still resolute , supported by some strong determination which is not without hope . Before leaving Newville he called on Mrs. Brand , who still lived in the same house .