six o'clock
Mrs. Carnegie wished she could have offered herself as Bessie 's companion , but she would have been an impediment rather than a help , and Bessie set out alone . She had gone that way to Brook many and many a time , but never quite alone before . It seemed , at first , strange to her to be walking across the open heath by herself , and yet she felt , somehow , as if it had all happened before -- perhaps in a dream . It was a warm afternoon towards six o'clock , and the August glow of the heather in blossom spread everywhere like a purple sea . At the gate of the Forest Farm the cows were gathered , with meek patience expecting their call to the milking-shed ; but after she passed under the shade of the trees beyond Great-Ash Ford she met not a creature until she came in sight of the wicket opening into the wood from the manor-garden . And there was Harry Musgrave himself . Approaching over the turf with her light swift foot , Bessie drew quite near to him unheard , and saw him before he saw her .