twelve o’clock
Yes , so happy was Cousin Hans that he , who at other times was apt to stand upon his rights , accepted with a quiet , complacent smile all the jostlings and shoves , the smothered objurgations and other unpleasantnesses , which inevitably befall any one who rushes hastily along a crowded street , keeping his eyes fixed upon an object in front of him . No -- the love was obvious , indubitable . That settled , he tried to picture to himself the beloved one 's , the heavenly creature 's , mundane circumstances . And there was no great difficulty in that ; she had been walking with her old father , had suddenly discovered that it was past twelve o'clock , and had hastily said good-bye for the present , in order to go home and see to the dinner . For she was doubtless domestic , this sweet creature , and evidently motherless . The last conjecture was , perhaps , a result of the dread of mothers-in-law inculcated by all reputable authors ; but it was none the less confident on that account . And now it only remained for Cousin Hans to discover , in the first place , where she lived , in the second place who she was , and in the third place how he could make her acquaintance .