ten o'clock
to the two sheep dogs couched on the doorstep . § 6 What with supervising the work and herding slackers , getting her breakfast and packing off Ellen to the little school she went to at Rye , Joanna found all too soon that the market hour was upon her . It did not strike her to shirk this part of a farmer 's duty -- she would drive into Rye and into Lydd and into Romney as her father had always driven , inspecting beasts and watching prices . Soon after ten o'clock she ran upstairs to make herself splendid , as the occasion required . By this time the morning had lifted itself out of the mist . Great sheets of blue covered the sky and were mirrored in the dykes -- there was a soft golden glow about the marsh , for the vivid green of the pastures was filmed over with the brown of the withering seed-grasses , and the big clumps of trees that protected every dwelling were richly toned to rust through scales of flame . Already there were signs that the day would be hot , and Joanna sighed to think that approaching winter had demanded that her new best black should be made of thick materials .