seven o'clock
The flower-girls ' baskets were brilliant with `` market bunches '' of wall-flowers and daffodils -- these being the signs by which the dwellers in the streets know that the winter is over , that the time of the singing of birds has come , and that the voice of the turtle is heard in the land . The soft breezes blew a fragrance of violets and lilac-blossom from the gardens and the parks . London scarcely looked like itself , with the veil of smoke lifted away , and a fair blue sky , flecked with light silvery cloud , showing above the chimney-tops . Ethel was up at seven o'clock , busying herself with the last touches to her packing and the consideration of her toilet ; for she was much too active-minded to care for the seclusion in which brides sometimes preserve themselves upon their wedding-mornings . Some people might have thought that it would not be a very festive day , for her brother was the only near relative who remained to her , and an ancient uncle and aunt who had been , as Ethel herself phrased it , `` routed out '' for the occasion , were not likely to add much to the gaiety of nations by their presence . Mrs. Durant , lately Ethel 's companion , was to remain in the house as Maurice 's housekeeper , and she had nominally the control of everything ; but Ethel was still the veritable manager of the day 's arrangements . She had insisted on having her own way in all respects , and Oliver was not the man to say her nay -- just then .