four o'clock in the morning
`` They are not all like Palmer , thank Heaven , '' she said . `` There are decent men . My father is one , and your K. , here in the house , is another . '' At four o'clock in the morning Palmer Howe came home . Christine met him in the lower hall . He was rather pale , but entirely sober . She confronted him in her straight white gown and waited for him to speak .