ten o'clock
The floors hid themselves decently under thick red and black carpets , and the margins which were uncarpeted were disguised by beeswax , so that no one knew they were there at all . The narrow hall was steeped in shadow , for there two black velvet portieres , at distances of six feet apart , depended from rods in the ceiling . Similar palls flopped on each landing of the staircase , and no sound was heard in the house at all , except dim voices that droned from somewhere , muffled and sepulchral and bodyless . At ten o'clock , having finished the washing , Mary was visited by Mrs. O'Connor , whom she knew at once by the signs she had been warned of . The lady subjected each article that had been washed to a particular scrutiny , and , with the shadowy gallop of a smile that dashed into and out of sight in an instant , said they would do . She then conducted Mary to the kitchen and , pointing to a cup of tea and two slices of bread , invited her to breakfast , and left her for six minutes , when she reappeared with the suddenness of a marionette and directed her to wash her cup and saucer , and then to wash the kitchen , and these things also Mary did . She got weary very soon , but not dispirited , because there were many things to look at in the kitchen .