twelve
o'clock
I danced for joy , and kissed my godmother , and expressed my delight again and again . I should have liked to talk about it to Joseph , but he had plunged into the Thirty Years ' War , and had no attention to give me . It was a custom in the neighbourhood where my mother lived to call people by double Christian names , John Thomas , William Edward , and so forth ; but my godmother never called Maud Mary anything but Maud . It was possible that my darling friend might arrive by the twelve o'clock train , and the carriage was sent to meet her , whilst I danced up and down the big hall with impatience . When it came back without her my disappointment knew no bounds . I felt sure that the Ibbetsons ' coachman had been unpunctual , or dear Maud Mary 's nurse had been cross , as usual , and had not tried to get her things packed . I rushed into the library full of my forebodings , but my godmother only said , `` No grumbling , my dear ! ''