about three o'clock
The hermit Carlyon -- the old Oxford Professor of Greek , who had come to this out-of-the-way corner because he had been assured by the agent there would be no sort of society around him -- now intended to put on a tall hat and frock coat , and make a formal call on two maiden ladies -- all for the sake of a child of twelve years , with serious gray eyes -- and a soul ! In her heart of hearts Miss Roberta felt fluttered as she walked across the empty hall to the Italian parlor behind her sterner sister , to receive their guest . He would come in the afternoon , Halcyone had said . That meant about three o'clock , and it behooved ladies expecting a gentleman to be at ease at some pretty fancy work when he should be announced . The village was two miles beyond the lime lodge gates , and for the last eight years rheumatism in the knee had made the walk there out of the question for poor Miss Roberta -- so even the sight of a man and a stranger was an unusual thing ! She had not attempted conversation with anyone but Mr. Miller , the curate , for over eleven years . The isolation in which the inhabitants of La Sarthe Chase lived could not be more complete .