four o'clock
Her life 's training had instilled the conviction that no happiness was possible at the cost of a sacrifice of principle . If she could be once convinced that it was wrong to marry Geoffrey Greville , she would give him up as unflinchingly as any martyr of old walked to the stake , but she must be convinced on the ground of principle alone ! Pride , prejudice , convention , would pass her by , leaving her unshaken in her determination to marry the man she loved . At four o'clock the great landau from the Manor drove up to the gate , and from within the shrouded windows mother and daughter watched the groom jump lightly from his seat , to shield the grey froth of Madame 's draperies as she stepped to the ground . To Mrs Ramsden the scene was an eloquent illustration of the world , the flesh and the devil ; the world exemplified by the carriage with its handsome trappings , its valuable horses , and liveried attendants ; the flesh by Madame -- a picture of elegance in cloudy grey draperies , her silvery locks surmounted by a flower-wreathed toque , her cheeks faintly pink beneath the old lace veil -- the devil ! -- it was a hard word to apply to the handsome , resolute young fellow who followed his mother up the gravel path , but at the moment Geoffrey Greville appeared in Mrs Ramsden 's eyes as the destroyer of her happiness , the serpent who had brought discord into Eden ! She was in truth an honest little Puritan in whose sight the good things of the world were but as snares and pitfalls .