quarter to
three
Let me leave the decision to the lady who has ceased to be Miss Laroche -- I mean the lady who has been good enough to become my wife . MISS DULANE AND MY LORD . ONE afternoon old Miss Dulane entered her drawing-room ; ready to receive visitors , dressed in splendor , and exhibiting every outward appearance of a defiant frame of mind . Just as a saucy bronze nymph on the mantelpiece struck the quarter to three on an elegant clock under her arm , a visitor was announced -- `` Mrs. Newsham . '' Miss Dulane wore her own undisguised gray hair , dressed in perfect harmony with her time of life . Without an attempt at concealment , she submitted to be too short and too stout . Her appearance -LRB- if it had only been made to speak -RRB- would have said , in effect : `` I am an old woman , and I scorn to disguise it . ''