half past eight
I felt as light as the air itself . I had put baby 's feeding-bottle in my pocket and hung her surplus linen in a parcel about my wrist , so I had nothing to carry in my arms except baby herself , and at first I did not feel her weight . There were not many people in the West-End streets at that early hour , yet a few were riding in the Park , and when I came to the large houses in Lancaster Gate I saw that though the sun was shining on the windows most of the blinds were down . I must have been walking slowly , for it was half past eight when I reached the Marble Arch . There I encountered the first cross-tide of traffic , but somebody , seeing baby , took me by the arm and led me safely over . The great `` Mediterranean of Oxford Street '' was by this time running at full tide . People were pouring out of the Tube and Underground stations and clambering on to the motor-buses .