six o'clock
`` But we shall never learn the truth . The trick was done so well that the perpetrators know how to cover their tracks . '' But a bevy of voters coming in , the conversation ended and Gertrude did not see her opponent again that day . At six o'clock that evening , she lay on the couch in her own room , weary with the day 's experiences . For all she had considered herself well posted in political methods , this day had been a revelation to her . `` Well , Jessica , '' she told her cousin , `` I suppose we shall know before we go to bed how I stand . But at this moment , after all I 've seen today and realizing the state our city affairs are in , I will own to you in confidence that I hope -- honestly and earnestly , -- that I am defeated .