three o'clock
Lovers they seemed , even if lovers in reality they were not . So thought Ellenor Cartier as she watched them from the little cove below the field . She stood , a solitary figure against the sky , on the rough arm of a little harbour where she waited for the return of her father from fishing . She had been watching for the red sail of his boat since three o'clock , but she had turned many times to send hungry , lingering looks at the field , above all at the prominent figure of Le Mierre . When Blaisette came , in the glory of a new gown and a pink sunbonnet , it seemed to Ellenor that life was harder than she could bear , for she was shut out from the _ Grand Plough _ . Her father had not been asked to help , he was too much beneath the rank of Le Mierre ; therefore no excuse could be framed to admit her into the enchanted field . Jealousy sharpened her eyesight , she thought she could see the white hand of Blaisette slip through Dominic 's arm .