about a quarter to four
`` I think my girls fortunate to be placed under her care . She has been good , very good and kind , to me and mine . '' `` I wonder what he means by that , '' thought Maggie ; but she made no remark aloud . At about a quarter to four that same afternoon three girls prepared to walk over to Meredith Manor . It was for such golden opportunities that Molly and Isabel kept their best frocks ; it was for just such occasions that they arrayed themselves most neatly and becomingly . Their dress , it must be owned , was limited in quantity and also in quality ; but on the present occasion , in their pretty white spotted muslins , with pale-blue sashes round their waists and white muslin hats to match , they looked as charming a young pair of English girls as could be found in the length and breadth of the land . It is true their feet were not nearly as perfectly shod as Maggie 's , nor were their gloves quite so immaculate ; but then they were going to play tennis , and shoes and gloves did not greatly matter in the country .