six
o'clock
Peter said , shocked . `` But had n't you heard , Peter ? '' `` My dear -- my dearest child , I 'm just off the steamer . I got in at six o'clock . I 'd been thinking of you all the time , and I suddenly decided to cross the bay and come straight on to the valley , before I even went to the club or got my mail ! Tell me -- your father -- '' She had knelt before the cold hearth , and he knelt beside her , and they busied themselves with logs and kindling in the old way . A blaze crept up about the logs and Alix accepted Peter 's handkerchief and wiped a streak of soot from her wrist , quite as if she was a child again , as she settled herself in her chair .