one o'clock
At one o'clock , when the boys went to their dinner , Mary was to instruct her father as to the purport of the letter which was to be sent to Lord Bracy , -- and Mary had not as yet come to any decision . She could not go to her father for aid ; -- she could not , at any rate , go to him until the appointed hour should come ; and she was , therefore , entirely thrown upon her mother . Had she been old enough to understand the effect and the power of character , she would have known that , at the last moment , her father would certainly decide for her , -- and had her experience of the world been greater , she might have been quite sure that her father would decide in her favour . But as it was , she was quivering and shaking in the dark , leaning on her mother 's very inefficient aid , nearly overcome with the feeling that by one o'clock she must be ready to say something quite decided . And in the midst of this her mother was taken away from her , just at ten o'clock . There was not , in truth , much that the two ladies could say to each other . Mrs. Peacocke felt it to be necessary to let the Doctor know that Mr. Peacocke would be back almost at once , and took this means of doing so .