four o'clock in the
afternoon
`` Miss Juliana , m 'm , I suppose . '' Martha pursed up her lips , suppressing the impertinence of her own private opinion and awaiting her mistress 's with respect . No doubt she would have heard it but that Miss Juliana happened to come in at that moment , and Mrs. Moon 's attention was distracted by the really amazing spectacle presented by her niece . And Miss Juliana , who for five-and-twenty years had never appeared in anything but frowsy drab or dingy grey , Miss Juliana flaunting in silk at four o'clock in the afternoon , Miss Juliana , all shining and shimmering like a silver and mauve chameleon , was a sight to take anybody 's breath away . Martha dearly loved a scene , for to be admitted to a scene was to be admitted to her mistress 's confidence ; but the excellent woman knew her place , and before that flagrant apparition she withdrew as she would have withdrawn from a family scandal . Miss Quincey advanced timidly , for of course she knew that she had to cross that room under fire of criticism ; but on the whole she was less abject than she might have been , for at the moment she was thinking of Dr. Cautley . He had actually accepted her kind invitation , and that fact explained and justified her ; besides , she carried her Browning in her hand , and it made her feel decidedly more natural .