seven o'clock
At last he saw what a less observant eye might have seen long before -- the suffering and fear in her eyes , and the lines which concealed anxiety had drawn on his daughter 's face . Without a word she came into his arms and lay upon his breast and sobbed , and no word was needed that was not spoken in the father 's gentle hand on her dear head . The hours of the afternoon went slowly by , and Richard Lincoln was glad to look forward to an unusual evening as the best means of diverting Mary 's mind from the subject which filled it . At seven o'clock a great public meeting was to be held in Cobden Square . The platform for the speakers happened to be built beneath the windows of Mr. Windsor 's city house , and the hospitable American , who was to depart next morning for his own country , had invited a large party to hear the speeches . Mary was glad when her father told her that he wished her to go with him , for Maggie Windsor was the only one who knew her secret . As she drove with her father into the square in the evening , the place was bright as mid-day with electric lights .