eight o'clock
Alexina , who had been reading in her bedroom , realized that it must be quite half an hour since she had turned a page . She lifted her shoulders impatiently . She was in no humor for reading . It was only eight o'clock . Far too early for bed . Mortimer had gone to Los Angeles on business . He had been gone a week , and she admitted to herself with the new frankness she had determined to cultivate -- that she might meet , with the clearest possible vision , whatever three-cornered deals Life might have in store for her -- that she had not missed him at all .