three in the afternoon
Price had seized the arm of Alma 's maid in the act of posting it , and under threat of the law -LRB- not to speak of instant personal chastisement -RRB- the girl had confessed that both this letter and others had been written by our housekeeper under the inspiration of her mistress . Without any compunction Price broke the seal of the intercepted letter and read it aloud to me . It was a shocking thing , accusing me with Martin , and taunting my husband with the falseness of the forthcoming entertainment . Feeling too degraded to speak , I took the letter in silence out of my maid 's hands , and while I was in the act of locking it away in a drawer Alma came up with a telegram from my husband , saying he was leaving London by the early train the following morning and would arrive at Blackwater at half-past three in the afternoon . `` Dear old Jimmy ! '' she said , `` what a surprise you have in store for him ! But of course you 've told him already , have n't you ?