about noon
Mrs. Emery protested with an instant , reproving self-justification : '' _ You _ may be -- you 're not her mother ; but I understand Lydia through and through . '' Mrs. Emery felt that if Lydia had overheard that remark of her aunt 's her excitement and resentment might have been natural ; but the one which led to the distressing little scene in late April was as neutral as an ordinary morning salutation . The two were watching Lydia dress for a luncheon which Mrs. Hollister -- _ the _ Mrs. Hollister -- was giving in her honor . It was about noon of a warm day , and the air that came in at the open windows was thrillingly alive with troubling , disquieting suggestions of the new life of spring . Lydia , however , showed none of the languor which the sudden heat had brought to the two elder women . She was a little late , and her hurry had sent a high color to her cheeks , the curves of which were refined to the most exquisite subtlety by the loss of flesh so deplored by Dr. Melton . She was used , by this time , to dressing in a hurry , but her fingers trembled a little , and she tried three times before she could coil her dark silky hair smoothly .