six o'clock
He did not like her to arrange their wedding day to fit in with the shearing . But what else could she do ? If she was away when the shearers came , there 'd be no end to their goings on with the girls , and besides , who 'd see that the work was done proper and the tegs not scared out of their lives ? It was only six o'clock , but a premature darkness was falling as the clouds dropped over Dunge Marsh , and the rain hung like a curtain over Rye Bay , blotting out all distances , showing them nothing but the crumbling , uncertain track . In half an hour they were both wet through to their shoulders , for the rain came down with all the drench of May . Joanna could see that Martin was beginning to be worried about himself -- he was worried about her too , but he was more preoccupied with his own health than other men she knew , the only way in which he occasionally betrayed the weak foundations of his stalwart looks . `` The worst of it is , we 'll have to sit for an hour in the dog-cart after we get to Jury 's Gap .