about four o'clock
Innocent Hester ! she could not understand how the very qualities she so admired in Sylvia were just what were so foreign to her nature that the husband , who had known her from a child , felt what an unnatural restraint she was putting upon herself , and would have hailed petulant words or wilful actions with an unspeakable thankfulness for relief . One day -- it was in the spring of 1798 -- Hester was engaged to stay to tea with the Hepburns , in order that after that early meal she might set to again in helping Philip and Coulson to pack away the winter cloths and flannels , for which there was no longer any use . The tea-time was half-past four ; about four o'clock a heavy April shower came on , the hail pattering against the window-panes so as to awaken Mrs. Robson from her afternoon 's nap . She came down the corkscrew stairs , and found Phoebe in the parlour arranging the tea-things . Phoebe and Mrs. Robson were better friends than Phoebe and her young mistress ; and so they began to talk a little together in a comfortable , familiar way . Once or twice Philip looked in , as if he would be glad to see the tea-table in readiness ; and then Phoebe would put on a spurt of busy bustle , which ceased almost as soon as his back was turned , so eager was she to obtain Mrs. Robson 's sympathy in some little dispute that had occurred between her and the nurse-maid .