ten in the morning
`` I am confident of that , '' she agreed , and with her charming gray head held high went on about her household affairs . The advanced age of the Honourable Calvin Gray , and the precarious state of his eyesight , made it possible for him to work at his beloved self-appointed task for only a scant number of hours daily . His new assistant , therefore , found his own working hours not only limited but variable . Beginning at ten in the morning , by four in the afternoon Judge Gray was usually too weary to proceed farther ; sometimes by the luncheon hour he was ready to lay aside his papers and dismiss his assistant . On other days he would waken with a severe headache , the result of the overstrain he was constantly tempted to give his eyes , in spite of all the aid that was offered him . On such days Richard could not always find enough to do to occupy his time , and would be obliged to leave the house so early that many hours were on his hands . When this happened , he would take the opportunity to drop in at one or two of his clubs , and so convey the impression that only caprice kept him away on other days .