nearly twelve o'clock
I shall be lost without you . You need n't go till quite evening . ' Janet had dipped into the ` Life of Henry Martyn , ' which Mrs. Pettifer had from the Paddiford Lending Library , and her interest was so arrested by that pathetic missionary story , that she readily acquiesced in both propositions , and Mrs. Raynor set out . She had been gone more than an hour , and it was nearly twelve o'clock , when Janet put down her book ; and after sitting meditatively for some minutes with her eyes unconsciously fixed on the opposite wall , she rose , went to her bedroom , and , hastily putting on her bonnet and shawl , came down to Mrs. Pettifer , who was busy in the kitchen . ` Mrs. Pettifer , ' she said , ` tell mother , when she comes back , I 'm gone to see what has become of those poor Lakins in Butchers Lane . I know they 're half starving , and I 've neglected them so , lately . And then , I think , I 'll go on to Mrs. Crewe .