nine o’clock
She had moreover a great fondness for intervals of solitude , which since her arrival in England had been but meagrely met . It was a luxury she could always command at home and she had wittingly missed it . That evening , however , an incident occurred which -- had there been a critic to note it -- would have taken all colour from the theory that the wish to be quite by herself had caused her to dispense with her cousin 's attendance . Seated toward nine o'clock in the dim illumination of Pratt 's Hotel and trying with the aid of two tall candles to lose herself in a volume she had brought from Gardencourt , she succeeded only to the extent of reading other words than those printed on the page -- words that Ralph had spoken to her that afternoon . Suddenly the well-muffed knuckle of the waiter was applied to the door , which presently gave way to his exhibition , even as a glorious trophy , of the card of a visitor . When this memento had offered to her fixed sight the name of Mr. Caspar Goodwood she let the man stand before her without signifying her wishes . `` Shall I show the gentleman up , ma'am ? ''