five o'clock
He smiled indulgently ; pressed her hand for a moment against his cheek ; and went out for the short walk he was accustomed to take before retiring . In October Marian was at Sark , holiday making at the house of Hardy McQuinch 's brother , who had recently returned to England with a fortune made in Australia . Conolly , having the house at Holland Park to himself , fitted a spare room as a laboratory , and worked there every night . One evening , returning home alone a little before five o'clock , he shut himself into this laboratory , and had just set to work when Armande , the housemaid , interrupted him . `` Mrs. Leith Fairfax , sir . '' Conolly had had little intercourse with Mrs. Fairfax since before his marriage , when he had once shewn her the working of his invention at Queen Victoria Street ; and as Marian had since resented her share of Douglas 's second proposal by avoiding her society as far as possible without actually discontinuing her acquaintance , this visit was a surprise . Conolly looked darkly at Armande , and went to the drawing-room without a word . ''