five o'clock
He had at any rate proved himself a scholar , and he was so far happier . He felt that he was beginning to get on with Miss Harden , to see a little way across the gulf , discerning the outlines of the further shore where that high lady walked unveiled . Then suddenly , owing to a most humiliating incident , the gulf yawned again . It was five o'clock , and he was left alone in the company of a fascinating little tea-table , laid , as if for a guest , with fine white linen , silk embroidered , with early Georgian silver and old china . It was laid for him , that little tea-table . He had delayed a little before beginning his repast , and it happened that when Miss Harden appeared again she found him holding a tea-cup to his lips with one hand , while the other groped in a dish of cream cakes , abstractedly , and without the guidance of a selective eye . Both eyes indeed were gazing dreamily over the rim of the tea-cup at her empty chair .