two in the afternoon
Then , I said , the three words would be spoken , not rudely blurted out , but spoken as they should be for the first time . The mention of Boller had brought back to my mind the haunting `` three , '' to echo in every corridor of my brain , and before I fell asleep that night , exhausted by over-thinking , I lifted my hands into the blackness and whispered what had so long hung unuttered on my lips . To-morrow , I said , I shall say it -- at two . At two in the afternoon I found Gladys Todd in the little vine-covered veranda in the rear of the house , painting . I am sure that had I seen her for the first time as she sat there at her easel beautifying a black plaque with a bunch of tulips , every wave of her hand as she plied the brush would have struck the divine spark in my heart . Marguerite at her spinning was not more lovely . The place was ideal for my purpose .