the
hour of 3 P.M.
Sir , a man may go blind for one gal when he is not yet dry behind the ears , and then , when his eyes are skinned , go in for one better . All things mortal meet with a change , as my sisters little boy said when , at the age of eight , he quitted the Methodys and turned Shaker . Threep and argue as we may , you and I are both mortals -- more 's the pity . Good morning , sir -LRB- glancing at the clock , which proclaimed the hour of 3 P.M. -RRB- , -- I err -- good evening . '' By the post that day the Colonel transmitted a condensed and laconic report of his conversation with Graham Vane . I can state its substance in yet fewer words . He wrote word that Graham positively declined the invitation to Paris ; that he had then , agreeably to Lizzy 's instruction , ventilated the Englishman , in the most delicate terms , as to his intentions with regard to Isaura , and that no intentions at all existed .