four o'clock
Grace could not repress a little impatient sigh . `` He 's going to ask me again , '' was her reflection , `` but there is only one answer that I can ever give him . '' While Anne Pierson 's wedding day had dawned with a light snow on the ground , the weather underwent a considerable change during the night , and the next morning broke , gray and threatening . Heavy , sullen clouds dropped low in the sky , and by four o'clock that afternoon a raw , dispiriting winter rain had set in , accompanied by a moaning wind that made the day seem doubly dreary . Promptly at four o'clock Grace saw Tom swing up the walk without an umbrella . His black raincoat , buttoned up to his chin , was infinitely becoming to his fair Saxon type of good looks , and Grace could not repress a tiny thrill of satisfaction that this strong , handsome man cared for her . The next second she dismissed the thought as unworthy .