six o'clock
His face was purple and she feared a stroke . But he heard her quietly , and told her she had proved her friendship by coming to him before it was too late . When she left him he sat for another hour , alone . It was six o'clock . San Francisco was enjoying one of its rare heat waves and Madeleine had put on a frock of white lawn made with a low neck and short sleeves , and tied a soft blue sash round her waist . As the hour of her husband 's reasonably prompt homing approached she seated herself at the piano . She could not trust herself to sing , and played the `` Adelaide . ''