seven
o'clock
And the shock they got was this : Mrs. Brandeis was out . Any one could have told you that she should have been sitting at home in a darkened room , wearing a black gown , clasping Fanny and Theodore to her , and holding a black-bordered handkerchief at intervals to her reddened eyes . And that is what she really wanted to do , for she had loved her husband , and she respected the conventions . What she did was to put on a white shirtwaist and a black skirt at seven o'clock the morning after the funeral . The store had been closed the day before . She entered it at seven forty-five , as Aloysius was sweeping out with wet sawdust and a languid broom . The extra force of holiday clerks straggled in , uncertainly , at eight or after , expecting an hour or two of undisciplined gossip .