two o'clock
Lady Hunsdon loved peace , and wondered that anyone should question her rigid rules for enforcing it . But of Anne as a valuable coadjutor in the present instance there could be no doubt , and , to do her justice , she anticipated no danger in the meeting of a fine girl , full of eager interest in life , and the demoralised being her son so pathetically described . She was quite sincere in her desire to lift the gifted young man from his moral quagmire , but this new opportunity to exercise her power , almost moribund since her party was no longer in Opposition , was a stronger motive still . When Anne was alone in her room she sat down and stared through the half-closed jalousies until the luncheon bell rang at two o'clock , forgetting to change her frock . But she could make little of the ferment in her mind , except that her mental companion , that arbitrary creation she had called Byam Warner , was gone forever . Even did she return to her northern home and dwell alone , his image would never return . She could not even now recall the lineaments of that immortal lover .