nine o'clock
Incidentally , she would repeat her warnings to her friend concerning herself , for which she expected no thanks . Still , it had galled her badly listening to the coarse remarks of Station people at the Club . She would speak , however disagreeable the task . At nine o'clock when she reached the Bara Koti she discovered that Joyce was not in . Usually , she returned from her drive at dusk , but as she had not done so up to that late hour , the Collector 's servants had come to the conclusion that she was dining at a neighbour 's in the happy-go-lucky way that sahibs took `` pot-luck '' at one another 's houses without reference to their domestics . It was odd in Mrs. Meredith 's case , for never before had she failed to return to her baby that she might tuck him into his little cot herself and see that all was right . The ayah was not a little perturbed , but did not voice her feelings until speaking to Honor , fearing that they were foolish and unfounded .