six o'clock
Then , gathering up her skirts , she went leisurely down the steps and passed unhurriedly from the view of those dismayed eyes that she felt upon her from the Wyeth window . On the avenue she turned north and was presently alone in a shaded aisle of the park -- that park whose very trees and shrubs seem to have taken on a hard , knowing look from having been so long made the recipients of cynical confidences . They seemed to understand perfectly what had happened , to echo Wyeth 's high-pitched , friendly drawl , with an added touch of mockery that was all their own -- `` Oh -- Linford ! '' It was toward six o'clock when she ascended the steps of the rectory . Bernal , coming from the opposite direction , met her at the door . Back of his glance , as they came together , was an intimation of hidden things , and at sight of him she was smitten by an electric flash of wonder . The voice of Wyeth , that friendly , untroubled voice , she now remembered had called to no specific Linford .