six o'clock
`` That comes of leading a one-sided life . Yes , I am getting into a groove . '' And she determined that she would go out more in the evenings and try to take an interest in the theatre and the new dances . But even while she was in the act of resolving , she realized that when her hard day 's work was over , and she came home at six o'clock , she was too tired ; too utterly worn out , for anything except dinner and bed . There was still the cheerful hour with the children -LRB- that she had kept up in the busiest seasons -RRB- ; but when the question of going out was discussed at dinner , she usually ended by sending the children to a lecture or a harmless play with Miss Polly . `` When you work as hard as I do , there is n't much else for you in life , '' she concluded regretfully , and there swept over her , as on that May afternoon , a sense of failure , of dissatisfaction , of disappointment . Youth was slipping , slipping , and she had missed something .