four o'clock
If we sat here staring at each other till four o'clock , -- he _ must _ go to his hotel before he comes here ; and I say four at the earliest ; and it 's much more likely to be five or six , or perhaps evening , -- I should die ! '' Mr. Erwin 's rowing was the wonder of all Venice . There was every reason why he should fall overboard at each stroke , as he stood to propel the boat in the gondolier fashion , except that he never yet had done so . It was sometimes his fortune to be caught on the shallows by the falling tide ; but on that day he safely explored the lagoons , and returned promptly at four o'clock to the palace . His wife was standing on the balcony , looking out for them , and she smiled radiantly down into Lydia 's anxiously lifted face . But when she met the girl at the head of the staircase in the great hall , she embraced her , and said , with the same gay smile , `` He has n't come yet , dear , and of course he wo n't come till after dinner . If I had n't been as silly as you are , Lydia , I never should have let you expect him sooner .