eleven
o'clock
But now , for some weeks past , this hope , or rather this idea , had faded away . Mrs. Dale had never questioned her daughter on the matter ; she was not a woman prone to put such questions . But during the month or two last past , she had seen with regret that Bell looked almost coldly on the man whom her mother favoured . In thinking of all this the long evening passed away , and at eleven o'clock she heard the coming steps across the garden . The young men had , of course , accompanied the girls home ; and as she stepped out from the still open window of her own drawing-room , she saw them all on the centre of the lawn before her . `` There 's mamma , '' said Lily . `` Mamma , Mr. Crosbie wants to play croquet by moonlight . ''