about four o'clock
Beautiful ladies are of great service in these affairs . '' Bessie had not a blue bonnet ; her bonnet was white chip and pink may -- the enemy 's colors . She must put it by till the end of the war . Tea and thick bread and butter were supplied to the hungry couple , and about four o'clock Mr. Fairfax called for them and hurried them off to the train . Mr. Laurence went on to Norminster , dropping the squire and Elizabeth at Mitford Junction . Thence they had a drive of four miles through a country of long-backed , rounded hills , ripening cornfields , and meadows green with the rich aftermath , and full of cattle . The sky above was high and clear , the air had a crispness that was exhilarating .