eight o'clock
She loved him so well that she would have given her right hand to get for him what he wanted ; -- but she sorrowed to think that he should want such a thing so sorely . Immediately after his dinner , he took his hat and went out without saying a word further , and made his way once more across to the gate of the cottage . It was a lovely summer evening , at that period of the year in which our summer evenings just begin , when the air is sweeter and the flowers more fragrant , and the forms of the foliage more lovely than at any other time . It was now eight o'clock , but it was hardly as yet evening ; none at least of the gloom of evening had come , though the sun was low in the heavens . At the cottage they were all sitting out on the lawn ; and as Belton came near he was seen by them , and he saw them . `` I told you so , '' said Mrs. Askerton , to Clara , in a whisper . `` He is not coming in , '' Clara answered .