about nine o'clock
`` Please give this to Mr. Lawrence , '' said she , prettily , and rode on . The other notes were in her pocket , but she had not delivered them when she returned home at sunset . `` I am going to run over to Elmira Edwards and carry them , '' she told her mother after supper , and pleaded that she would like the air when Mrs. Merritt suggested that Hannah be sent . Thus it happened that Jerome Edwards , coming home about nine o'clock that night , noticed , the moment he opened the outer door , the breath of roses and lavender , and a subtle thrill of excitement and almost fear passed over him . `` Who is it ? '' he thought . He listened , and heard voices in the parlor .