six o'clock before
At half-past five everything was in order ; Janet was dressed ; and when the mother had kissed her and said good-bye , she could not help pausing a moment in sorrowful admiration at the tall rich figure , looking all the grander for the plainness of the deep mourning dress , and the noble face with its massy folds of black hair , made matronly by a simple white cap . Janet had that enduring beauty which belongs to pure majestic outline and depth of tint . Sorrow and neglect leave their traces on such beauty , but it thrills us to the last , like a glorious Greek temple , which , for all the loss it has suffered from time and barbarous hands , has gained a solemn history , and fills our imagination the more because it is incomplete to the sense . It was six o'clock before Dempster returned from Rotherby . He had evidently drunk a great deal , and was in an angry humour ; but Janet , who had gathered some little courage and forbearance from the consciousness that she had done her best to-day , was determined to speak pleasantly to him . ` Robert , ' she said gently , as she saw him seat himself in the dining-room in his dusty snuffy clothes , and take some documents out of his pocket , ` will you not wash and change your dress ? It will refresh you . '