three o’clock
Thus matters stood between these two . To-day , however , though only with diffidence and after some encouragement from the lady , he had asked leave to be his cousin 's cavalier at the ice fete , and when she consented , readily enough , appointed the moat as their place of meeting . This was somewhat less than Lysbeth expected , for she wished his escort through the town . But , when she hinted as much , Dirk explained that he would not be able to leave the works before three o'clock , as the metal for a large bell had been run into the casting , and he must watch it while it cooled . So , followed only by her maid , Greta , Lysbeth glided lightly as a bird down the ice path on to the moat , and across it , through the narrow cut , to the frozen mere beyond , where the sports were to be held and the races run . There the scene was very beautiful . Behind her lay the roofs of Leyden , pointed , picturesque , and covered with sheets of snow , while above them towered the bulk of the two great churches of St. Peter and St. Pancras , and standing on a mound known as the Burg , the round tower which is supposed to have been built by the Romans .