About three o'clock
The frosty air flicked his blood : singing vigorously to himself he worked with a stubborn , unflagging resolution , methodically postponing , till the length of the wall should be completed , the announcement of his betrothal . After his reticent , solitary fashion , he was very happy , reviewing his future prospects , with a plain and steady assurance , and , as the week-end approached , coming to ignore the irregularity of the whole business : almost to assume , in the exaltation of his pride , that he had won her honestly ; and to discard , stolidly , all thought of Luke Stock , of his relations with her , of the coming child that was to pass for his own . And there were moments too , when , as he sauntered homewards through the dusk at the end of his day 's work , his heart grew full to overflowing of a rugged , superstitious gratitude towards God in Heaven who had granted his desires . About three o'clock on the Saturday afternoon he finished the length of wall . He went home , washed , shaved , put on his Sunday coat ; and , avoiding the kitchen , where his mother sat knitting by the fireside , strode up to the vicarage . It was Rosa who opened the door to him . On recognizing him she started , and he followed her into the dining-room .