about eight o'clock
`` I 'm afraid I 've wasted your afternoon , '' she said ; `` but we do n't often get a chat nowadays , do we ? Good-bye , dear . Go on loving me , wo n't you ? '' After that , Henry would give the day up as a bad job , and begin to wonder if Ned would be dropping in that evening for a smoke ; and as that was Ned 's almost nightly custom about eight o'clock , the chances of Henry 's disappointment were not serious . One morning , as Henry was really doing a little work , a more ponderous step broke the silence of his landing , a heavy footfall full of friendship . Certainly that was not Angel , nor even the more weighty Esther , though when the knock came it was little and shy as a woman 's . Henry threw open the door , but for a moment there was no one to be seen ; and then , recalling the idiosyncrasy of a certain new friend whom by that very token he guessed it might be , he came out on to the landing , to find a great big friendly man in corpulent blue serge , a rough , dark beard , and a slouched hat , standing a few feet off in a deprecating way , -- which really meant that if there were any ladies in the room with Mr. Mesurier , he would prefer to call another time .