nine in the evening
` Four hundred and fifty pounds ! ' ` Grinding poverty -- for married people . ' Micklethwaite burst into indignant eloquence , and Everard sat listening with the restrained smile on his lips . Having allowed exactly a week to go by , Everard Barfoot made use of his cousin 's permission , and called upon her at nine in the evening . Miss Barfoot 's dinner-hour was seven o'clock ; she and Rhoda , when alone , rarely sat for more than half an hour at table , and in this summer season they often went out together at sunset to enjoy a walk along the river . This evening they had returned only a few minutes before Everard 's ring sounded at the door . Miss Barfoot -LRB- they were just entering the library -RRB- looked at her friend and smiled .