three
o'clock P.M.
He seemed to her like one over whom the fire had passed , purifying as it burned , and leaving a better metal than it had found . He was wholly self-possessed this morning , greeting her as if the scene in the Deering woods had never been enacted , and she could hardly believe that they were the same , the Arthur of one year ago , and the Arthur of to-day ; the quiet , elegant young man , who , with more than womanly tenderness , pushed Nina 's curls back under her lace cap , kissed her forehead , and then asked Edith if she did not look like a little nun with her hair so plain . Nina liked to be caressed , and she smiled upon him a smile so full of trusting faith and love , that Edith 's eyes filled with tears , and her rebellious heart went out toward Arthur as it had never done before , inasmuch as she felt that he was now far more worthy of her . Very rapidly the morning passed away , and it was after three o'clock P.M. , when , as Arthur sat with Edith upon the cool piazza , one of the negroes came running up , the perspiration starting from every pore , and himself almost frantic with excitement . `` What is it , Caesar ? '' Arthur asked . `` What has happened to you ? ''