about half past three o'clock in the afternoon
Nothing was said about the rent that was due . Perhaps Mr Sweater thought that as he had already received nearly six hundred pounds in rent from Linden he could afford to be generous about the five weeks that were still owing -- or perhaps he thought there was no possibility of getting the money . However that may have been , there was no reference to it in the letter -- it was simply a notice to clear out , addressed to Linden , but meant for Mary . It was about half past three o'clock in the afternoon when she returned home and found this letter on the floor in the front passage . She was faint with fatigue and hunger , for she had had nothing but a cup of tea and a slice of bread that day , and her fare had not been much better for many weeks past . The children were at school , and the house -- now almost destitute of furniture and without carpets or oilcloth on the floors -- was deserted and cold and silent as a tomb . On the kitchen table were a few cracked cups and saucers , a broken knife , some lead teaspoons , a part of a loaf , a small basin containing some dripping and a brown earthenware teapot with a broken spout .