ten o’clock
She asked Mrs. Nettlepoint if there were any one else in our party , and when our hostess mentioned her son -- there was a chance of his embarking but -LRB- was n't it absurd ? -RRB- he had n't decided yet -- she returned with extraordinary candour : `` Oh dear , I do hope he 'll go : that would be so lovely for Grace . '' Somehow the words made me think of poor Mr. Porterfield 's tartan , especially as Jasper Nettlepoint strolled in again at that moment . His mother at once challenged him : it was ten o'clock ; had he by chance made up his great mind ? Apparently he failed to hear her , being in the first place surprised at the strange ladies and then struck with the fact that one of them was n't strange . The young man , after a slight hesitation , greeted Miss Mavis with a handshake and a `` Oh good-evening , how do you do ? '' He did n't utter her name -- which I could see he must have forgotten ; but she immediately pronounced his , availing herself of the American girl 's discretion to `` present '' him to her mother .