four
o'clock
She could tell the very moment when he would come , for she had the happiness -- which every woman prizes and few ever know -- of loving a man who kept his word in the letter as well as the spirit . If men could but know the difference there is to a woman ! But they hardly ever do know , because this is a little thing , and they can never understand that it is the little things and not the large ones that make the happiness or the wretchedness of most women . She exulted in the thought that he would come at the very instant he had named , no sooner and no later , and this would be precisely at four o'clock . She looked round with a smile , trying to tell by the mark on the window-sill what the time was then . But the day was gloomy , and there was no sunlight to mark the hour . Solitary snowflakes were drifting irresolutely across the window , as if uncertain whether to go on earthward or return whence they came .