six in the evening
For each was anxious to study him and to discover what influence he was likely to have upon Catherine . During her daughter 's absence Mrs. Ardagh had found the emptiness of her childless life insupportable , and she had , therefore , engaged a young girl , called Jenny Levita , to come to her every day as companion . Jenny was intelligent and very poor , bookish and earnest , even ardent in nature . Mrs. Ardagh gained a certain amount of interest and pleasure from forming the pliant mind of her protégée , who was with her always from eleven till six in the evening , who read aloud to her , accompanied her on her charitable missions , and took -- so far as a stranger might , -- the place of Catherine in her life . Catherine met Jenny upon the doorstep of her parents ' house on the evening of her arrival , and hastened to ask her mother who the slim girl , with the tall figure , narrow shoulders , fluffy brown hair , and large oriental eyes was . `` My paid daughter , '' said Mrs. Ardagh , almost bitterly . `` But she ca n't fill the place of my lost Catherine . ''