nine o'clock
There was a meeting of one of the many charitable societies to which Bertha had made Lord Northmoor give his name , and she persuaded him to stay on another day for it , though he came down in the morning with a sore throat and heavy eyes , and , contrary to his usual habits , lay about in an easy-chair , and dozed over the newspaper all the morning . When he found himself unable to eat at luncheon , she allowed that he was not fit for the meeting , but demurred when he declared that he should go home at once that afternoon to let Mary nurse his cold . The instinct of getting back to wife and home were too strong for Bertha to contend with , and he started , telegraphing to Northmoor to be met at the station . Perhaps there were delays , as in his oppressed and dazed state he had mistaken the trains , for he did not arrive at home till nine o'clock instead of seven , and then he looked so ill as he stumbled into the hall , dazzled by the lights , that Mary looked at him in much alarm . ` Yes , ' he said hoarsely , ` I have a bad cold and sore throat , and I thought I had better come home at once . ' ` Indeed you had ! If only you have not made it worse by the journey ! '