three o'clock
That , I was resolved , she should never do ; nor was I quite coxcomb enough to suspect her of the desire for a moment . But a man who has once made a fool of himself , especially about a woman somewhat older than himself , does not soon get over the soreness ; and mine returned with the very fascination which made itself felt even in the shortest little letter . Catherine wrote from the old address in Elm Park Gardens , and she wanted me to call as early as I could , or to make any appointment I liked . I therefore telegraphed that I was coming at three o'clock that afternoon , and thus made for myself one of the longest mornings that I can remember spending in town . I was staying at the time at the Kensington Palace Hotel , to be out of the central racket of things , and yet more or less under the eye of the surgeon who still hoped to extract the last bullet in time . I can remember spending half the morning gazing aimlessly over the grand old trees , already prematurely bronzed , and the other half in limping in their shadow to the Round Pond , where a few little townridden boys were sailing their humble craft . It was near the middle of August , and for the first time I was thankful that an earlier migration had not been feasible in my case .