about eleven o'clock
It would now have been a great solace to her if Cecily Doran could have been her companion ; but the young girl was in Paris , or Berlin , or St. Petersburg , and , as Miriam was soon to learn , the material distance between them meant little in comparison with the spiritual remoteness which resulted from Cecily 's education under Mrs. Lessingham . They corresponded , however , and at first frequently ; but letters grew shorter on both sides , and arrived less often . The two were now to meet for the first time since Cecily was a child of fourteen . The ladies arrived at the villa about eleven o'clock . Miriam had shown herself indisposed to speak of them , both last evening , when Mallard was present , and again this morning when alone with her relatives ; at breakfast she was even more taciturn than usual , and kept her room for an hour after the meal . Then , however , she came to sit with Eleanor , and remained when the visitors were announced . Mrs. Lessingham did not answer to the common idea of a strong-minded woman .