ten o'clock
Mrs. Home thought the slow moments would never fly until she was with the sister friend , who in her own bitter humiliation and shame could trust her . In the morning , she and her husband had a talk together . Then hurrying through her household duties , she started at a still very early hour for Prince 's Gate . She arrived there before ten o'clock , and as she mounted the steps and pulled the ponderous bell she could not help thinking of her last visit ; she had felt sore and jealous then , to-day she was bowed down by a sense of unworthiness and humility . Then , too , she had gone to visit this rich and prosperous young woman dressed in her very best , for she said to herself that whatever her poverty , she would look every inch the lady ; she looked every inch the lady to-day , though she was in her old and faded merino . But that had now come to her which made her forget the very existence of dress . The grand footman , however , who answered her modest summons , being obtuse and uneducated , saw only the shabby dress ; he thought she was a distressed workwoman , he had forgotten that she had ever come there before .