about six o'clock in the
afternoon
He passed a hand over his forehead -- that had been harder than walking a tight-rope with your head in a sack -- but the chasm had been crossed and nothing was left now but the fireworks on the other side . How easy it was to tinker other people 's love-affairs for them -- for oneself the difficulties were somehow a little harder to manage , he thought . And then he began considering how long it would take from Southampton to New York in the two-seater and just where Ted would most likely be . A long-distance telephone conversation about six o'clock in the afternoon between two voices usually so even and composed that the little pulse of excitement beating through both as they speak now seems perilous , unnatural . One is Mr. Severance 's thin cool speech and the other -- most curious , that -- seems by every obsequious without being servile , trained and impassive turn and phrase to be that of that treasure among household treasures , Elizabeth . `` My instructions were that I was to call you , sir , whenever I was next given an evening out . '' `` Yes , Elizabeth .