four o'clock
But Urmand was determined not to be beaten . He intended to return to Basle on the next day but one , and desired to put this matter a little in forwardness before he took his departure . On the following morning he had various appointments to keep with countrymen and their wives , who sold linen to him , but he was quick over his business and managed to get back to the inn early in the afternoon . From six till eight he well knew that Marie would allow nothing to impede her in the grand work of preparing for supper ; but at four o'clock she would certainly be sitting somewhere about the house with her needle in her hand . At four o'clock he found her , not with her needle in her hand , but , better still , perfectly idle . She was standing at an open window , looking out upon the garden as he came behind her , standing motionless with both hands on the sill of the window , thinking deeply of something that filled her mind . It might be that she was thinking of him .