four o'clock
She knew that the best , old and young , would come to her New Year 's Day reception as a matter of course . Mrs. Ballinger had also gratefully accepted Mrs. McLane 's invitation , for Sally had recently married Harold Abbott and was receiving on Rincon Hill , and Maria was in modest retirement . She wore a long gown of silver gray poplin as shining as her silver hair ; and as she was nearly a foot taller than her hostess , the two ladies stood at opposite ends of the mantelpiece in the front parlor with Annette McLane and two young friends between . The reception was at its height at four o'clock . The rooms were crowded , and the equipages of the guests packed not only South Park but Third Street a block north and south . Madeleine sat at the end of the long double room behind a table and served the eggnog . The men hovered about her , not , as commonly , in unqualified admiration , or passed on the goblets , slices of the monumental cakes , and Peter Job 's famous cream pie .