6 in the afternoon
Her chief sensation that evening was that she was alone , for Mrs. Tams was not a companion , but a slave . She was alone with a grave and strange responsibility , which she could not evade . Indeed , events had occurred in such a manner as to make her responsibility seem natural and inevitable , to give it the sanction of the most correct convention . Between 4.30 and 6 in the afternoon four separate calls of inquiry had been made at the house , thus demonstrating Mrs. Maldon 's status in the town . One lady had left a fine bunch of grapes . To all these visitors Rachel had said the same things , namely , that Mrs. Maldon had been better on the Saturday , but was worse ; that the case was very serious ; that the doctor had been twice that day and was coming again , that Councillor Batchgrew was fully informed and had seen the patient ; that Mr. Louis Fores , Mrs. Maldon 's only near relative in England , was constantly in and out ; that she herself had the assistance of Mrs. Tams , who was thoroughly capable , and that while she was much obliged for offers of help , she could think of no way of utilizing them . So that when the door closed on the last of the callers , Rachel , who a month earlier had never even seen Mrs. Maldon , was left in sole rightful charge of the dying-bed .