four
o'clock
Perhaps Kate , in their confidential moments , may have said something to this effect ; or I may have been mistaken . My grandmother soon announced that the whole party was to pass the night at Satanstoe . As we were accustomed to such plans , neither Kate nor myself raised the least objection , while the Bayards submitted to orders , which I soon discovered even they were not unused to , with perfect good will and submission . Thus brought together , in the familiarity of a quiet and small party in a country house , we made great progress in intimacy ; and by the time dinner was over , or by four o'clock , I felt like an old acquaintance with those who had so lately been strangers to me , even by name . As for Bayard and my sister , they were in the best of humors from the start , and I felt satisfied _ their _ affair was a settled thing in their own minds ; but Miss Priscilla was a little under constraint for an hour or two , like a person who felt a slight embarrassment . This wore off , however , and long before we left the table she had become entirely herself ; and a very charming self it was , I was forced to admit . I say forced ; for spite of all I had said , and a certain amount of good sense , I hope , it was impossible to get rid of the distrust which accompanied the notion that I was expected to fall in love with the young lady .