noon
`` I 'm glad you 've said yes , my dear , '' he whispered , with a mischievous twinkle in his gray eyes , `` or a certain young man would have thought nothing of coming to take you by main force . Shall I tell him of that sweet blush ? Or -- '' But Miss Goldthwaite had fled , and Beauty flew off like an arrow . On Friday morning , Miss Hepsy received a brief note from Mr. Goldthwaite , stating that he had attended the funeral of Mrs. Hurst , paid the little she had owed in Newhaven , and would be at Pendlepoint by the noon cars that day , when he requested Miss Hepsy to be in waiting at the depot to meet her nephew and niece . Now , Friday was Miss Hepsy 's cleaning day . Although ordinary eyes would have been puzzled to point out what spot in that shining domain required more than the touch of a duster , the house was upturned from ceiling to basement , and received such sweeping and dusting and polishing , such scouring and scrubbing , that it was a marvel Miss Hepsy was not exhausted at the end of it . She had just turned out the parlour chairs into the lobby , and was busy with broom and dust-pan , sweeping up invisible dust , when Ebenezer brought her Mr. Goldthwaite 's letter .