nine o'clock
Then Charlotte followed her father to his own room , softened down his wrath , and persuaded him to say nothing more about the Jew bill discounter , at any rate for a few weeks . He even went so far as to say he would pay the £ 700 , or at any rate settle the bill , if he saw a certainty of his son 's securing for himself anything like a decent provision in life . Nothing was said openly between them about poor Eleanor , but the father and the daughter understood each other . They all met together in the drawing-room at nine o'clock , in perfect good humour with each other , and about that hour Mrs. Bold was announced . She had never been in the house before , though she had of course called , and now she felt it strange to find herself there in her usual evening dress , entering the drawing-room of these strangers in this friendly , unceremonious way , as though she had known them all her life . But in three minutes they made her at home . Charlotte tripped downstairs and took her bonnet from her , and Bertie came to relieve her from her shawl , and the signora smiled on her as she could smile when she chose to be gracious , and the old doctor shook hands with her in a kind benedictory manner that went to her heart at once and made her feel that he must be a good man .