eight o'clock
`` Of course the Reverend Mr. Lyle 's introduction is a sufficient passport for any gentleman to any lady 's acquaintance . '' Mr. Lyle bowed and said : `` Then I will bring him at eight o'clock this evening . '' And , with another bow , he also left the party and hurried off to the hotel . That evening , at eight o'clock , the three young ladies were seated alone together in the front drawing-room of their boarding-house . Their elderly friends were not present . Dr. Jones was dining at the college with Alden Lytton and his fellow-graduates . Mrs. Fanning , fatigued with the day 's excitement , had retired to a dressing-gown and sofa in her own room .