twelve o'clock
To her , as to an equal and intimate , she displayed her expert knowledge of shops and _ modistes _ , of `` people '' and their stories . Diana sat snubbed and silent , a little provincial outsider , for whom `` seasons '' are not made . Nor was it any better with Mrs. Fotheringham . At twelve o'clock that lady brought the London papers into the drawing-room . Further information had been received from the Afghan frontier . The English loss in the engagement already reported was greater than had been at first supposed ; and Diana found the name of an officer she had known in India among the dead . As she pondered the telegram , the tears in her eyes , she heard Mrs. Fotheringham describe the news as `` on the whole very satisfactory . ''