about four o'clock
`` And when you give your evidence , '' she went on , `` the coroner will remark that if the influence of a lady so obviously sweet and right-feeling and intelligent could not avail to save the poor youth , he was plainly destined to a premature end . '' At which Mrs. Hannaford again laughed and reddened , but this time with gratification . If Irene sometimes made a mistake , no one could have perceived it more quickly , and more charmingly have redeemed the slip . When Piers Otway got back to Ewell , about four o'clock , he felt the beginning of a headache . The day of excitement might have accounted for it , but in the last few weeks it had been too common an experience with him , a warning , naturally , against his mode of life , and of course unheeded . On reaching the house , he saw and heard no one ; the door stood open , and he went straight up to his room . He had only one , which served him for study and bedchamber .