about nine o’clock
I am going to Dora , and I may not come home until late . You know they will depend upon me for every suggestion . '' In fact , Ethel did not return home until the following day , for a snowstorm came up in the afternoon , and the girl was weary with planning and writing , and well inclined to eat with Dora the delicate little dinner served to them in Dora 's private parlor . Then about nine o'clock Mr. Stanhope called , and Ethel found it pleasant enough to watch the lovers and listen to Mrs. Denning 's opinions of what had been already planned . And the next day she seemed to be so absolutely necessary to the movement of the marriage preparations , that it was nearly dark before she was permitted to return home . It was but a short walk between the two houses , and Ethel was resolved to have the refreshment of the exercise . And how good it was to feel the pinch of the frost and the gust of the north wind , and after it to come to the happy portal of home , and the familiar atmosphere of the cheerful hall , and then to peep into the firelit room in which Ruth lay dreaming in the dusky shadows .