four o'clock
`` Oh , not before afternoon . '' Rebecca waited with all the patience she could muster . She kept reassuring herself , telling herself that it was all natural , that the other woman could not help it , but she made up her mind that if Agnes did not return that afternoon she should be sent for . When it was four o'clock she started up with resolution . She had been furtively watching the onyx clock on the sitting-room mantel ; she had timed herself . She had said that if Agnes was not home by that time she should demand that she be sent for . She rose and stood before Mrs. Dent , who looked up coolly from her embroidery .