eleven o’clock
By all accounts , I say ; for , except on Sundays , when he went to church , I never saw him from month to month : unless , in crossing the hall or walking in the grounds , the figure of a tall , stout gentleman , with scarlet cheeks and crimson nose , happened to come across me ; on which occasions , if he passed near enough to speak , an unceremonious nod , accompanied by a ` Morning , Miss Grey , ' or some such brief salutation , was usually vouchsafed . Frequently , indeed , his loud laugh reached me from afar ; and oftener still I heard him swearing and blaspheming against the footmen , groom , coachman , or some other hapless dependant . Mrs. Murray was a handsome , dashing lady of forty , who certainly required neither rouge nor padding to add to her charms ; and whose chief enjoyments were , or seemed to be , in giving or frequenting parties , and in dressing at the very top of the fashion . I did not see her till eleven o'clock on the morning after my arrival ; when she honoured me with a visit , just as my mother might step into the kitchen to see a new servant-girl : yet not so , either , for my mother would have seen her immediately after her arrival , and not waited till the next day ; and , moreover , she would have addressed her in a more kind and friendly manner , and given her some words of comfort as well as a plain exposition of her duties ; but Mrs. Murray did neither the one nor the other . She just stepped into the schoolroom on her return from ordering dinner in the housekeeper 's room , bade me good-morning , stood for two minutes by the fire , said a few words about the weather and the ` rather rough ' journey I must have had yesterday ; petted her youngest child -- a boy of ten -- who had just been wiping his mouth and hands on her gown , after indulging in some savoury morsel from the housekeeper 's store ; told me what a sweet , good boy he was ; and then sailed out , with a self-complacent smile upon her face : thinking , no doubt , that she had done quite enough for the present , and had been delightfully condescending into the bargain . Her children evidently held the same opinion , and I alone thought otherwise . After this she looked in upon me once or twice , during the absence of my pupils , to enlighten me concerning my duties towards them .