four
o'clock
From this it appeared that , as Nick knew , or could surmise , she had the evening before , from the country , wired for the victoria to meet her in the morning at Paddington and then gone straight from the station to the studio , while her maid , with her luggage , proceeded in a cab to Great Stanhope Street . On leaving the studio , however , she had not come directly home ; she had chosen this unusual season for an hour 's drive in the Park . She had finally re-entered her house , but had remained upstairs all day , seeing no one and not coming down to luncheon . At four o'clock she had ordered the brougham for four forty-five , and had got into it punctually , saying , `` To the Park ! '' as she did so . Nick , after the footman had left him , made what he could of Julia 's sudden passion for the banks of the Serpentine , forsaken and foggy now , inasmuch as the afternoon had come on grey and the light was waning . She usually hated the Park and hated a closed carriage .