ten o'clock
As he spoke he thought of the grey , old , unpainted house , and of his brother-in-law with his stocking-feet on the stove-hearth , and his mother 's bloomers ; he thought of his arrest , and his night in the police-station , his trial , and the Wayfarer 's Lodge ; and he wondered that he could think of such things and still look such a girl in the face . But he was not without that strange joy in their being unknown to her which reserved and latent natures feel in mere reticence , and which we all experience in some degree when we talk with people and think of our undiscovered lives . They went on a long time , matching their opinions and feelings about many things , as young people do , and fancying that much of what they said was new with them . When he came away after ten o'clock , he thought of one of the things that Sewell had said about the society of refined and noble women : it was not so much what they said or did that helped ; it was something in them that made men say and do their best , and help themselves to be refined and noble men , to make the most of themselves in their presence . He believed that this was what Miss Carver had done , and he thought how different it was with him when he came away from an evening with Statira . Again he experienced that compassion for her , in the midst of his pride and exultation ; he asked himself what he could do to help her ; he did not see how she could be changed . Berry followed him downstairs , and wanted to talk the evening over .