nine o’clock
When , in all her life , had she ever been alone ? And how was she to bear it now , with all these ravening memories besetting her ! Dinner not till nine ? What on earth was she to do till nine o'clock ? She knelt before her boxes , and feverishly began to unpack . Gradually , imperceptibly , the subtle influences of her old life were stealing into her . As she pulled out her tossed and crumpled dresses she remembered Violet 's emphatic warning : `` Do n't believe the people who tell you that skirts are going to be wider . ''