three o'clock in the afternoon
`` She seemed all right , '' he said ; and Julia lay back , disappointed , in her chair again . `` To me she seems all wrong , '' she said . When I thought the conversation had lasted long enough I took Julia away from the library . Mrs Ragg had declared herself unable to have our meal ready before three o'clock in the afternoon . We went into a pastry-cook 's therefore , and Julia ate a fair supply of tarts and custards , and insisted on taking away with her a selection from the store . `` You keep yourself in hand for the chicken cooked by Mrs Ragg ; I intend to be independent of it , '' she said , and walked home with her indigestible provender . As we neared Sea-Strand Cottage we saw , coming towards it from the opposite direction , our new acquaintance of the reading-room .