four o'clock
If they took up less room than the women they certainly were more decorative . Dr. Talbot and his wife had not arrived . To all eager questions Mrs. McLane merely replied that `` they '' would `` be here . '' She had the dramatic instinct of the true leader and had commanded the doctor not to bring his bride before four o'clock . The reception began at three . They should have an entrance . But Mrs. Abbott , a lady of three chins and an eagle eye , who had clung for twenty-five years to black satin and bugles , was too persistent to be denied .