four in the afternoon
The laden drays that passed the house in which she lived rumbled a deep double-bass to the tune of love . The newsboys ' shouts were the notes of singing birds ; that garden was the pleasance of the Capulets ; the janitor was an ogre ; himself a knight , ready with sword , lance or lute . Thus does romance show herself amid forests of brick and stone when she gets lost in the city , and there has to be sent out a general alarm to find her again . At four in the afternoon Ravenel looked out across the garden . In the window of his hopes were set four small vases , each containing a great , full-blown rose -- red and white . And , as he gazed , she leaned above them , shaming them with her loveliness and seeming to direct her eyes pensively toward his own window . And then , as though she had caught his respectful but ardent regard , she melted away , leaving the fragrant emblems on the window-sill .