four o’clock
Dr. May was not to be visited , for he was in the same half-conscious state , apparently sensible only of bodily suffering , though he answered when addressed , and no one was trusted to speak to him but Flora and Ernescliffe . The rest wore through the day as best they might . Harry slept a good deal , Ethel read to herself , and tried to get Norman to look at passages which she liked , Mary kept the little ones from being troublesome , and at last took them to peep behind the school-room blinds for Richard 's coming . There was a simultaneous shout when , at four o'clock , they caught sight of him , and though , at Ethel 's exclamation of wonder , Mary and Tom hung their heads at having forgotten themselves , the association of gladness in seeing Richard was refreshing ; the sense of being desolate and forsaken was relieved , and they knew that now they had one to rely on and to comfort them . Harry hastened to open the front door , and Richard , with his small trim figure , and fresh , fair young face , flushed , though not otherwise agitated , was among them , almost devoured by the younger ones , and dealing out quiet caresses to them , as he caught from the words and looks of the others that at least his father and sister were no worse . Mr. Wilmot had come with him , but only stayed to hear the tidings . `` Can I see papa ? ''