nine o'clock
I have been packing ; perhaps it 's from stooping over the trunk . ' This by no means satisfied Mary , who felt that things mysterious were going on about her . But she could only wait , repeating to herself that the grand _ denouement _ decidedly was not far off . At nine o'clock sounded the visitor 's bell . If , as she thought likely , the caller was Everard , Miss Barfoot decided that she would disregard everything but the dramatic pressure of the moment , and leave those two alone together for half an hour . Everard it was ; he entered the drawing-room with an unusual air of gaiety . ` I have been in the country all day , ' were his first words ; and he went on to talk of trivial things -- the doings of a Cockney excursion party that had come under his notice .