about ten o'clock
`` Thanks so much for cutting them , '' said the girl with the carnations , smelling them before she fastened them on again . `` I really think they are my favourite flower ; the scent is so delicious -- quite the nicest flower of all , do n't you think so ? '' `` I 'm not sure , '' Rawson-Clew said thoughtfully , and when he spoke thoughtfully he drawled very much , `` I 'm not sure I do n't sometimes prefer wild thyme . '' It was about ten o'clock on an October night ; everything was intensely quiet in the big kitchen where Julia stood . It was not a cheerful place even in the day time , the windows looked north , and were very high up ; the walls and floor were alike of grey stone , which gave it a prison-like aspect , and also took much scrubbing , as she had reason to know . It was far too large a place to be warmed by the small stove now used ; Julia sometimes wondered if the big one that stood empty in its place would have been sufficient to warm it . She glanced at it now , but without interest ; she was very tired , it was almost bed-time , and she had done , as she had every day since she first joined Herr Van de Greutz 's household , a very good day 's work .