nine o'clock
So it seemed to her strange to be expected to cry on his account . He had not been happy here in Ostable , or , at least , he had not shown his happiness in the way other people showed theirs . To her he had been a big , bearded giant of a man , whom she saw at infrequent intervals during the day and always at night just before she went to bed . His room , with the old-fashioned secretary against the wall , and the stuffed gull on the shelf , and the books in the cupboard , and the polished narwhal horn in the corner , was to her a sort of holy of holies , a place where she was led each evening at nine o'clock , at first by Mrs. Bailey and , later , by Mrs. Hobbs , to shake the hand of the big man who looked at her absently over his spectacles and said good night in a voice not unkindly but expressing no particular interest . At other times she was strictly forbidden to enter that room . Occasionally , but very rarely , she had eaten Sunday dinner with Marcellus . She and the housekeeper usually ate together and Mr. Hall 's meals were served in what the child called `` the smoke room , '' meaning the apartment just described , which was at all times strongly scented with tobacco .