five o'clock
She went back to her own rooms ; and to get away from her shame , she began to write a letter . It was to a friend in Rome , and from the sense we all have that a letter which is to go such a great distance ought to be a long letter , and from finding that she had really a good deal to say , she let it grow so that she began apologising for its length half a dozen pages before the end . It took her nearly the whole afternoon , and she regained a little of her self-respect by ridiculing the people she had met . Toward five o'clock Annie was interrupted by a knock at her door , which ought to have prepared her for something unusual , for it was Mrs. Bolton 's habit to come and go without knocking . But she called `` Come in ! '' without rising from her letter , and Mrs. Bolton entered with a stranger . The little girl clung to his forefinger , pressing her head against his leg , and glancing shyly up at Annie .