nearly three o’clock
` I hope soon to come out into the garden , and I am not at all sure that my objection to tobacco is serious . ' Ah , if Mrs. Mewling could have heard that speech ! Mrs. Mewling 's age was something less than fifty ; probably she had had time to forget how a young girl such as Adela speaks in pure frankness and never looks back to muse over a double meaning . It was nearly three o'clock . Adela compared her watch with the sitting-room clock , and , the gentlemen having retired , moved about the room with a look of uneasiness . Her mother stood at the window , seemingly regarding the sky , in reality occupying her thoughts with things much nearer . She turned and found Adela looking at her .