three o'clock in the afternoon
Then it may have enjoyed the sunshine and air of the valley it overlooked , but now it was so hemmed in by yards and outbuildings as to be considered the most undesirable part of the house , and Number 3 the most undesirable of its rooms ; which certainly does not speak well for it . But we are getting away from our new friends and their mysterious errand . As I have already intimated , this tavern with the curious name -LRB- a name totally unsuggestive , by the way , of its location on a perfectly straight road -RRB- had for its southern aspect the road and a broad expanse beyond of varied landscape which made the front rooms cheerful even on a cloudy day ; but it was otherwise with those in the rear and on the north end . They were never cheerful , and especially toward night were frequently so dark that artificial light was resorted to as early as three o'clock in the afternoon . It was so to-day in the remote parlour which these three now entered . A lamp had been lit , though the daylight still struggled feebly in , and it was in this conflicting light that there rose up before them the vision of a woman , who seen at any time and in any place would have drawn , if not held , the eye , but seen in her present attitude and at such a moment of question and suspense , struck the imagination with a force likely to fix her image forever in the mind , if not in the heart , of a sympathetic observer . I should like to picture her as she stood there , because the impression she made at this instant determined the future action of the man I have introduced to you as not quite satisfied with the appearances he had observed above .