the hour of
four
It was not until he was some distance down Piccadilly that it occurred to him that he should have pictured the lover with a warm hand ; and that omission on his part caused him a greater amount of irritation than anyone who was unaware of his skill in phrase-making could have thought possible to arise from a lapse apparently so trifling . It was not until he had reached the Acropolis and had referred , in the hearing of the most eminently dull of the many distinguished members of that club , to the possibility of a girl 's experiences of man being likened to an astronomer without a telescope , that he felt himself again . The dull distinguished man had smiled . Phyllis sat alone in one of the drawing rooms , waiting until the hour of four should arrive and bring into her presence the Rev. George Holland , to plead his cause to her -- to plead to be returned to her favor . He had written to her to say that he would make such an attempt . She had looked on him with favor for several months -- with especial favor for three months , for three months had just passed since she had promised to marry him , believing that to be the wife of a clergyman who , though still young , had two curates to do the rough work for him -- clerical charwomen , so to speak -- would make her the happiest of womankind . Mr. Holland was rector of St. Chad 's , Battenberg Square , and he was thought very highly of even by his own curates , who intoned all the commonplace , everyday prayers in the liturgy for him , leaving him to do all the high-class ones , and to repeat the Commandments .