eight o'clock
But when they reached her door and managed to open it she stood for a moment peering through the dusk into his face . `` If it 's true ... '' she said . `` If you really want a home and a wife -- like me ... Oh , yes , I know it 's true ! '' Two or three hours after March and Mary came to the Dearborn Avenue house that Sunday morning , a little before eight o'clock to be precise , John Wollaston , deterred by humane considerations from ringing the door-bell , tried his latch-key first and found it sufficient . Rather surprisingly since his sister was particular about bolts and chains . But this mild sensation was engulfed the next moment in clear astonishment when he encountered in the drawing-room doorway , Anthony March . The piano tuner was coatless and in his socks .