seven o'clock
So much upholstery , so much music , such variety of company , he understood , could not be got in any other way , and it might be that they would even catch a glimpse of the inventor of the combination , who represented the very excess and extremity of a certain kind of Americanism . Isabel had eagerly consented ; but these aesthetic motives were paralyzed for her by the thought of passing Point Judith in a storm , and she descended from her high intents first to the Inside Boats , without the magnificence and the orchestra , and then to the idea of going by land in a sleeping-car . Having comfortably accomplished this feat , she treated Basil 's consent as a matter of course , not because she did not regard him , but because as a woman she could not conceive of the steps to her conclusion as unknown to him , and always treated her own decisions as the product of their common reasoning . But her husband held out for the boat , and insisted that if the storm fell before seven o'clock , they could reach it at Newport by the last express ; and it was this obstinacy that , in proof of Isabel 's wisdom , obliged them to wait two hours in the station before going by the land route . The storm abated at five o'clock , and though the rain continued , it seemed well by a quarter of seven to set out for the Old Colony Depot , in sight of which a sudden and vivid flash of lightning caused Isabel to seize her husband 's arm , and to implore him , `` O do n't go by the boat ! '' On this , Basil had the incredible weakness to yield ; and bade the driver take them to the Worcester Depot . It was the first swerving from the ideal in their wedding journey , but it was by no means the last ; though it must be confessed that it was early to begin .