six o'clock
She kept feeling of it to see if it were safe as she walked along . The snow was quite deep , the road was not well broken out , and she plodded forward with bent head , her black skirt gathering a crusty border of snow . She had to pass Richard Alger 's house , but she never looked up . It was six o'clock , and quite dark ; it had been dark when she set out at five . The housewives were preparing supper ; there was a smell of burning pine-wood in the air , and now and then a savory scent of frying meat . Sylvia had smelled brewing tea and baking bread in Squire Payne 's house , and she had heard old Margaret , the Scotch woman who had lived with the squire 's family ever since she could remember , stepping around in another room . Old Margaret was almost the only servant , the only regular and permanent servant , in Pembroke , and she enjoyed a curious sort of menial distinction : she dressed well , wore a handsome cashmere shawl which had come from Scotland , and held her head high in the squire 's pew .