eight in the
morning
To her the thought of giving to another what she still felt could belong only to Ned seemed monstrous . When other young men tried to attract her attention she would have nothing to do with them . `` I am his wife and shall remain his wife whether he comes back or not , '' she whispered to herself , and for all of her willingness to support herself could not have understood the growing modern idea of a woman 's owning herself and giving and taking for her own ends in life . Alice worked in the dry goods store from eight in the morning until six at night and on three evenings a week went back to the store to stay from seven until nine . As time passed and she became more and more lonely she began to practice the devices common to lonely people . When at night she went upstairs into her own room she knelt on the floor to pray and in her prayers whispered things she wanted to say to her lover . She became attached to inanimate objects , and because it was her own , could not bare to have anyone touch the furniture of her room .