five o'clock
Perhaps she was a coward , she said to herself , but she questioned him no further . Wayne was not so prompt as Mathilde in making the announcement of their engagement . He and his mother breakfasted together rather hastily , for she was going to court that morning to testify in favor of one of her backsliding inebriates , and Wayne had not found the moment to introduce his own affairs . That afternoon he came home earlier than usual ; it was not five o'clock . He passed Dr. Parret 's flat on the first floor -- Dr. Lily MacComb Parret . She was a great friend of his , and he felt a decided temptation to go in and tell her the news first ; but reflecting that no one ought to hear it before his mother , he went on up-stairs . He lived on the fifth floor .