half past three
Mr. Jellicorse , exulting in his safety , had imprinted the chaste salute upon his good wife 's cheek at ten minutes after one o'clock ; when the clerks in the office with laudable promptitude -LRB- not expecting him as yet -RRB- had unanimously cast down pen , and betaken hand and foot toward knife and fork . Instead of blaming them , this good lawyer went upon that same road himself , with the great advantage that the road to his dinner lay through his own kitchen . At dinner-time he had much to tell , and many large helps to receive , of interest and of admiration , especially from his pet child Emily -LRB- who forgot herself so largely as to lick her spoon while gazing -RRB- , and after dinner he was not without reasons for letting perhaps a little of the time slip by . Therefore , by the time he had described all dangers , discharged his duty to all comforts , and held the little confidential talk with his wife and himself above recorded , the clock had made its way to half past three . Mrs. Jellicorse and Emily were gone forth to pay visits ; the clerks , shut away in their own room , were busy , scratching up a lovely case for nisi prius ; the cook had thrown the sifted cinders on the kitchen fire , and was gone with the maids to exchange just a few constitutional words with the gardener ; and the whole house was drowsy with that by-time when light and shadow seem to mix together , and far-away sounds take a faint to and fro , as if they were the pendulum of silence . `` That is Emily 's knock . Impatient child !