six o'clock
* * * * * But it saw more than that . On the evening of Thanksgiving Day there was an air of repressed excitement about the Cardew house . Mademoiselle , in a new silk dress , ran about the lower floor , followed by an agitated Grayson with a cloth , for Mademoiselle was shifting ceaselessly and with trembling hands vases of flowers , and spilling water at each shift . At six o'clock had arrived a large square white box , which the footman had carried to the rear and there exhibited , allowing a palpitating cook , scullery maid and divers other excitable and emotional women to peep within . After which he tied it up again and carried it upstairs . At seven o'clock Elinor Cardew , lovely in black satin , was carried down the stairs and placed in a position which commanded both the hall and the drawing-room . For some strange reason it was essential that she should see both .