two o'clock
Her faults were in a great manner subdued , but they were not eradicated . She was intensely affectionate , brave , and true as steel ; but she was apt to be both heedless and thoughtless . When rushing away to rescue Boris , it never once entered into her head that the secret of her absence might prove very troublesome to poor Kitty , and that the rest of the party might suffer uneasiness on her account . Without any adventure from bull or bull-dog , without endangering her life in the bog , which turned out to be almost non-existent at this time of year , she reached the Towers at the most sultry time of the day , and appeared upon the scene between one and two o'clock , a tired , flushed , and very thirsty Annie . All during her walk she pictured Boris 's state of despair . She saw in her mind 's eye a vision of his little , flushed , tear-stained face . She thought of Nell , too , and imagined the rapture with which the ugly duckling would greet her , the deliverer of the oppressed .