three o'clock
On the day that Irene left the home of her husband he had parted from her silent , moody and with ill-concealed anger . Hard words , reproaches and accusations had passed between them on the night previous ; and both felt unusually disturbed . The cause of all this , as we have said , was light as vanity . During the day Mr. Emerson , who was always first to come to his senses , saw the folly of what had occurred , and when he turned his face homeward , after three o'clock , it was with the purpose of ending the unhappy state by recalling a word to which he had given thoughtless utterance . The moment our young husband came to this sensible conclusion his heart beat with a freer motion and his spirits rose again into a region of tranquillity . He felt the old tenderness toward his wife returning , dwelt on her beauty , accomplishments , virtues and high mental endowments with a glow of pride , and called her defects of character light in comparison . `` If I were more a man , and less a child of feeling and impulse , '' he said to himself , `` I would be more worthy to hold the place of husband to a woman like Irene .