four o'clock
She was merely coquetting , then ? However , the carriage came up , and no further _ tete-à-tete _ could well occur before their arrival at the house , where there was abundant company , to whom Gwendolen , clad in riding-dress , with her hat laid aside , clad also in the repute of being chosen by Mr. Grandcourt , was naturally a centre of observation ; and since the objectionable Mr. Lush was not there to look at her , this stimulus of admiring attention heightened her spirits , and dispersed , for the time , the uneasy consciousness of divided impulses which threatened her with repentance of her own acts . Whether Grandcourt had been offended or not there was no judging : his manners were unchanged , but Gwendolen 's acuteness had not gone deeper than to discern that his manners were no clue for her , and because these were unchanged she was not the less afraid of him . She had not been at Diplow before except to dine ; and since certain points of view from the windows and the garden were worth showing , Lady Flora Hollis proposed after luncheon , when some of the guests had dispersed , and the sun was sloping toward four o'clock , that the remaining party should make a little exploration . Here came frequent opportunities when Grandcourt might have retained Gwendolen apart , and have spoken to her unheard . But no ! He indeed spoke to no one else , but what he said was nothing more eager or intimate than it had been in their first interview .