seven o'clock
`` I had rather be by her side than here , '' he said to himself . `` How is she spending this season , which should be so happy ? Perhaps in utter loneliness ; or in the midst of that artificial gaiety which is more wretched than solitude . '' * * * * * The rector of Hallgrove and his guests assembled in the old-fashioned drawing-room of the manor-house rectory at seven o'clock on that snowy Christmas-night . The snowflakes fell thick and fast as night closed in upon the gardens and shrubberies , the swift-flowing river , and distant hills . The rectory drawing-room , beautified by the soft light of wax-candles , and the rich hues of flowers , was a pleasant picture -- a picture which was made all the more charming by the female figures which filled its foreground . Chief among these , and radiant with beauty and high spirits , was Lydia Graham .