about five o'clock
The next day Neil was in a penitent frame of mind , for , however much he might laugh at Blanche and her light eyebrows , and ridicule his mother 's plans for him in that quarter , he was not at all indifferent to the ten thousand a year , and might perhaps wish to have it . Consequently he must not drive Blanche too far , for she had a temper and a will , and there was another cousin one degree further removed than himself , a good-natured , good-looking and highly-aristocratic Jack Trevellian , who was thirty years old , and a great favorite in the best society which London afforded , and who , if a great-uncle and two cousins were to die without heirs , would become Sir Jack , and who , it was thought , had an eye on the ten thousand a year . So Neil was very gracious , and sugared Blanche 's strawberries for her at breakfast , and read to her after breakfast , and staid at home to lunch , and never mentioned Bessie , or hinted that he would much rather be sitting with her on the old hair-cloth sofa in Mrs. Buncher 's parlor than in that elegantly furnished boudoir , and when the hour for driving came , and his mother complained of a headache , and asked him to go with Blanche , he consented readily , but suggested that she leave her poodle at home , as one puppy was enough for her , he said . And so about five o'clock the McPherson carriage drove into the park near Apsley House , and in it sat Miss Blanche , gorgeous in light-blue silk and white lace hat , with large solitaires in her ears , her red parasol held airily over her head and her insipid face wreathed in smiles , as she talked to her companion , the handsome Neil , whose dark face was such a contrast to her own , and who reclined indolently at her side , answering her questions mechanically , but thinking always of Bessie , and wondering if she were there in the hired chair , and if she would see him , or , what was more to the purpose , if he should see her among the multitude which thronged the park that afternoon . Bessie was there , and had been for more than an hour , sitting with her father near one of the entrances from Piccadilly , and wholly unconscious of the attention she was attracting with her beautiful , fresh young face , her animated gestures and eager remarks to her father as she watched the passers-by , and wondered who was who , and wished Neil was there to tell her . `` I 'd like to see a real duchess , and not mistake a barmaid for one , '' she said ; and then a pleasant-looking man , who was standing near , and had heard her remarks , came up to her , and lifting his hat politely said to Archie ; `` If you will permit me , sir , I will tell the young lady who the people are . I know most of them . ''