nine o'clock
He laughed at the conceit until he shook all over , and Hugh , now alive to the immensity of the great surprise that awaited the gentle couple , found himself obliged to join in the merriment . Shortly afterwards Hugh started off to finish his errand . He rode with speed now because of his eagerness to get back home and look up Thad , upon whom he meant to let loose a bombshell that must fairly stagger him . It was not yet nine o'clock , and ten was the appointed hour when they were expected to join the picnic party . Hugh believed he had never in all his life felt one-half so joyous . If a fortune had come his way he could not have appreciated it as much as he did the knowledge that Matilda and Andrew were going to reap the reward of their long life of tender-heartedness in their relations with their fellows . It was simply grand , and Hugh felt that his mother must know all about it as soon as the affair had developed to the grand finale and Matilda 's eyes were opened to the fact that she had all this while been entertaining an angel unawares .