noon
`` They 're all coming to dinner , then he and Aunt Hannah and Bertram and I are going down to the Hollis Street Theatre and let you and Cyril have a taste of what that shaded lamp is going to be . I hope you wo n't be lonesome , '' she finished mischievously , as the car drew up before the door . After a week of beautiful autumn weather , Thursday dawned raw and cold . By noon an east wind had made the temperature still more uncomfortable . At two o'clock Aunt Hannah tapped at Billy 's chamber door . She showed a troubled face to the girl who answered her knock . `` Billy , _ would _ you mind very much if I asked you to go alone to the Carletons ' and to meet Mary Jane ? ''