four
o'clock
Even the strong , active porters , who sprang at huge trunks piled on cabs , and carried them off to the weighing-room , were different from other porters , more important , part of a great scheme , and their actions added to her excitement . She liked the way that an alert guard put her into her compartment , as if he were posting a letter in a hurry , and had others to post . Then the great and sudden bustle of the train going out made her heart beat . Mary had been brought to the station early , for Elinor had been nervous lest she might miss the train , and Doctor Smythe was coming at four o'clock that afternoon . But others who were to share the compartment were late . It was violently exciting to have them dash in at the last moment , and dispose of bags and thick rugs in straps to be used on the Channel . They were two , mother and daughter perhaps ; a delicate birdlike girl and a plump middle-aged woman with an air of extreme self-satisfaction .