three o'clock
While Jamie could take care of her , it mattered little what the worthless husband did , save the pain of Jamie 's knowing it . And of course they did not know that Jamie could no longer take care of her , and why . But one day , in the spring of 185 - , a New York correspondent of the bank came on to Boston , and Mr. Bowdoin gave a dinner for him at the house . The dinner was at three o'clock ; but old lady Bowdoin wore her best gown of tea-colored satin , and James Bowdoin and his wife were there . After dinner , the three gentlemen sat discussing old madeira , and old and new methods of banking , and the difference between Boston and New York , which was already beginning to assume a metropolitan preëminence . `` By the way , speaking of old-fashioned ways , '' said the New Yorker suddenly , `` that 's a queer old clerk of yours , -- Mr. McMurtagh , I mean . '' `` Looks as if he might have stepped out of one of Dickens 's novels , does he not ? ''