two o'clock
If it had happened once -- why , of course , it might happen again . She was not immune ; in spite of all her gifts , she was susceptible , and it was a horrid nuisance . He went home all on edge , what with the adventure of the gates , the encounter with the engineer fellow , and now the revelations of the Rector . As he approached the house , he saw from the old clock in the gable of the northern front that it was two o'clock . He was half-an-hour late for lunch . Luncheon , in fact , must be over . And indeed , as he passed along the library windows , he saw Elizabeth 's figure at her desk .