half past five
With him she was already disposed to be somewhat displeased that he was not immediately to be found ; and , after she _ had _ found him , lectured him all the way for his temerity in presuming to be absent when Miss Walladmor condescended to want him . Tom 's intellectual faculties were not of the most brilliant order : whether Tom had any latent and yet undiscovered profundity which qualified him for philosophic speculations , we can not say : for the honor of the male sex , we heartily hope that he had some bright endowment in his brain which was deeply concealed from all men to balance his prodigious inferiority to Grace in all which was revealed . Indeed Tom had no vanity on this subject : nobody could have a lower opinion of his own wit than he had himself , nor a higher opinion of Grace 's . And on the present occasion , after once hinting that he could not foresee that so very rare an event as a summons to `` the lady 's '' presence would occur precisely at half past five on this particular evening , he hastily withdrew that absurd argument before Grace 's displeasure -- and did not again resort to so weak a line of justification ; but took the wisest course for a man in his condition of guilt by throwing himself on Grace 's mercy . This was prudent : for Grace was always reasonable and forgiving when people acknowledged their crimes : and she now cheered Tom by an encouraging smile . Such encouragement was quite necessary to Tom at this moment ; there needed no frowns from Grace for a man scared out of his wits already at the prospect of an interview with Miss Walladmor ; an honor which he had never looked for ; and he could not divine what was to be the subject of conversation . Which of his virtues could it be that had procured him this distinction ?