two o'clock
And though no name was given , he would know from whom they came . But on the only occasion she tried to carry out the scheme , and ventured inside a florist 's shop , her scant command of German , and the excessive circumstantiality of the matter , made her feel so uncomfortable that she had fled precipitately , leaving the shopman staring after her in surprise . Things were at this pass when , one day late in May , Ephie went as usual to take her lesson . It was two o'clock on a cloudless afternoon , and so warm that the budding lilac in squares and gardens began to give out fragrance . In the whitewashed , many-windowed corridors of the Conservatorium , the light was harsh and shadowless ; it jarred on one , wounded the nerves . So at least thought Schilsky , who was hanging about the top storey of the building , in extreme ill-humour . He had been forced to make an appointment with a man to whom he owed money ; the latter had not yet appeared , and Schilsky lounged and swore , with his two hands deep in his pockets , and his sulkiest expression .