seven o'clock
Mrs Weston made a sign to her gardener to proceed , wishing to leave the stage at the moment of climax . `` And that 's why they 're both late , '' she said , and was whirled away in the direction of the bowling-green . The minutes went on , and still nobody appeared who could possibly have accounted for the three-lined whip of Hightums , but by degrees Lucia , who had utterly failed to decoy Lady Ambermere into the place of thrones , began to notice a certain thinning on her lawns . Her guests , it would seem , were not in process of dispersal , for it was a long way off seven o'clock yet , and also none would be so ill-mannered as to leave without shaking hands and saying what a delicious afternoon they had spent . But certainly the lawns grew emptier , and she was utterly unable to explain this extraordinary phenomenon , until she happened to go close to the windows of her music-room . Then , looking in , she saw that not only was every chair there occupied , but people were standing about in expectant groups . For a moment , her heart beat high ... .