about five in the afternoon
`` The roses bloom while the lady waits , The lark sings high in the blue above ; But who will open the golden gates , And let her in to the realms of love ? '' Arnold Wayne 's first call upon Elsie was always a very distinct memory to him afterwards . People were beginning to go out of town , and those who remained were haunted by the thought of breezy uplands , or of a blue summer sea breaking lazily on the golden sands . As Arnold walked along All Saints ' Street , about five in the afternoon , the chime of a bell ringing for evensong reminded him of his old home at Rushbrook and the grey church close to his gates . So it came to pass that he went into Elsie 's presence haunted by memories of his boyhood , and there was nothing in her presence to dispel such memories ; something about her seemed to blend with them and harmonise with early associations . She had been sitting by the open window with a book upon her lap , and she rose to meet him , still holding the volume in her hand . She was dressed in a pale-grey gown , and wore a large bunch of heliotrope in the folds of a kerchief of soft muslin knotted at her breast .