nine o'clock in the evening
Pictures , music , the play of interesting personalities , books , plays , -- ideas , -- that was the note of the higher civilization that Conny had caught . If Conny had absorbed all this so quickly , why could not she ? Cornelia Woodyard -- that somewhat ordinary schoolmate of her youth -- was becoming for Isabelle a powerful source of suggestion , just as Isabelle had been for Bessie Falkner in the Torso days . When Mrs. Woodyard returned to her house at nine o'clock in the evening and found it dark , no lights in the drawing-room or the library , no fire lighted in either room , she pushed the button disgustedly and flung her cloak into a chair . `` Why is the house like a tomb ? '' she demanded sharply of the servant , who appeared tardily . `` Mrs. Woodyard was not expected until later . ''