one o'clock
The mass of it which showed at the back as the stranger turned her head away for a moment , evidently hesitating over her next course of action , had in it tints of bronze which were more beautiful than Burns 's coppery hues . `` Would you care to wait ? '' inquired Miss Mathewson , entirely against her own principles . It was not quite one o'clock , and Burns always lunched in the city , after his morning at the hospital , and reached home barely in time for those afternoon village office hours which began at two . His assistant did not as a rule encourage the arrival of patients in the office as early as this , knowing that they were apt to become impatient and aggrieved by their long wait . But something about the slightly drooping figure of the girl before her , in her black clothes , with a small handbag on her arm , and a look of appeal on her face , suggested to the experienced nurse that here was a patient who must not be turned away . The girl looked up eagerly .