Four o'clock
She was always going to take the train , and did n't . Whenever her mind was irrevocably made up , the automobile whirled away on all four cylinders for a half a mile or so , until they were out of reach of the railroad . There were trolley cars , to be sure , but those took forever to get anywhere . Four o'clock struck , five and six , when at last the fiend who had conspired with fate , having accomplished his evident purpose of compelling Honora to miss her dinner , finally abandoned them as suddenly and mysteriously as he had come , and the automobile was a lamb once more . It was half-past six , and the sun had set , before they saw the lights twinkling all yellow on the heights of Fort George . At that hour the last train they could have taken to reach the dinner-party in time was leaving the New York side of the ferry . `` What will they think ? ''