Two o'clock
She would be back by three . It was an afternoon of premature spring . Water was drying on the walks and in the Park little girls were gravely wheeling white doll-buggies up and down under the thin trees while behind them followed bored nursery-maids in two 's , discussing with each other those tremendous secrets that are peculiar to nursery-maids . Two o'clock by her little gold watch . She should have a new watch , one made in a platinum oblong and incrusted with diamonds -- but those cost even more than squirrel coats and of course they were out of her reach now , like everything else -- unless perhaps the right letter was awaiting her ... in about an hour ... fifty-eight minutes exactly . Ten to get there left forty-eight ... forty-seven now ... Little girls soberly wheeling their buggies along the damp sunny walks . The nursery-maids chattering in pairs about their inscrutable secrets .