six in the afternoon
Milton , `` Paradise Lost . '' Old Lady Kynaston arrived at Shadonake in the worst possible temper . Her butler and factotum , who always made every arrangement for her when she was about to travel , had for once been unequal to cope with Bradshaw ; he had looked out the wrong train , and had sent off his lady and her maid half-an-hour too late from Walpole Lodge . The consequence was that , instead of reaching Shadonake comfortably at half-past six in the afternoon , Lady Kynaston had to wait for the next train . She ate her dinner alone , in London , at the Midland Railway Hotel , and never reached her destination till half-past nine on the night of the ball . Before she had half completed her toilette the guests were beginning to arrive . `` I am afraid I must go down and receive these people , dear Lady Kynaston , '' said Mrs. Miller , who had remained in her guest 's room full of regret and sympathy at the _ contretemps _ of her journey .