ten o'clock in the morning
... It has altered the destinies of -- '' `` Three people . '' `` Five , '' Eustacia thought ; but she kept that in . The Journey across the Heath Thursday , the thirty-first of August , was one of a series of days during which snug houses were stifling , and when cool draughts were treats ; when cracks appeared in clayey gardens , and were called `` earthquakes '' by apprehensive children ; when loose spokes were discovered in the wheels of carts and carriages ; and when stinging insects haunted the air , the earth , and every drop of water that was to be found . In Mrs. Yeobright 's garden large-leaved plants of a tender kind flagged by ten o'clock in the morning ; rhubarb bent downward at eleven ; and even stiff cabbages were limp by noon . It was about eleven o'clock on this day that Mrs. Yeobright started across the heath towards her son 's house , to do her best in getting reconciled with him and Eustacia , in conformity with her words to the reddleman . She had hoped to be well advanced in her walk before the heat of the day was at its highest , but after setting out she found that this was not to be done . The sun had branded the whole heath with his mark , even the purple heath-flowers having put on a brownness under the dry blazes of the few preceding days .