noon
She had had to discourse on the unique advantages of Brighton as a field for George 's enterprise , and on George 's common sense and on Sarah 's common sense , and the interdependence of the two . When the news came that George had acquired down there a house in going order , she had had to prove that it was not the end of the world that was announced . When the news came that George had re-sold the Cedars to its original occupier , she had had to prove that the transaction did not signify a mysterious but mortal insult to Sarah . When the news came that the Cedars must be vacated before noon on a given Saturday , she had had to begin all her demonstrations afresh , and in addition attempt to persuade Sarah that George was not utterly mad -- buying and selling boarding-house tenancies all over the South of England ! -- and that the exit from the Cedars would not be the ruin of dignity and peace , and the commencement of fatal disasters . In the hour when Sarah Gailey learnt the immutable Saturday of departure , the Cedars , which had been her hell , promised to become , on that very Saturday , a paradise . On the whole , the three months had constituted a quarter of exceeding difficulty and delicacy .