four
o'clock
`` Daisy , '' she said , suddenly , `` you can go into the garden , and have a romp with the Pink . '' `` The Pink '' was Daisy 's favorite kitten . Daisy laughed aloud , Jasmine started up briskly from the dinner-table , and Primrose , feeling that she had done well , went into the kitchen to consult with Hannah , the old cook , over the making of the cream-cakes . The result of all this was that when Miss Martineau , sharp at four o'clock -LRB- the hours were very primitive at Rosebury -RRB- , arrived at the Mainwarings ' door , the outward aspect of the house bore no tokens of violent grief on the part of its inmates -- the blinds were drawn up , not quite to the top , for that would have been ugly , and Jasmine was full of artistic instincts , but they were drawn up to let in plenty of sunlight , the white muslin curtains were draped gracefully , some pots of fresh flowers could be seen on the window-ledge , and a canary in a rather battered cage hung from a hook above , and disported himself cheerfully in the sunlight . Miss Martineau was very old-fashioned in her ideas , and she did not much like the look of the bay window . She comforted herself , however , with the reflection that even under the direst afflictions blinds must be drawn up some time , and that she would doubtless find the poor dear girls in a state of tempestuous grief within . She imagined herself soothing Jasmine , holding Primrose 's hand , and allowing Daisy to sit on her knee .