three o'clock in the afternoon
She asked to see Mrs. Morley , and through her had an interview with her husband . Without circumlocution , she told him that if he would lay his affairs before her and a certain accountant she named , to use their judgment regarding them in the hope of finding it possible to serve him , they would wait upon him for that purpose at any time and place he pleased . Mr. Morley expressed his obligation , -- not very warmly , she said , -- repudiating , however , the slightest objection to her ladyship 's knowing now what all the world must know the next day but one . Early the following morning Lady Bernard and the accountant met Mr. Morley at his place in the city , and by three o'clock in the afternoon fifteen thousand pounds were handed in to his account at his banker 's . The carriage was put down , the butler , one of the footmen , and the lady 's maid , were dismissed , and household arrangements fitted to a different scale . One consequence of this chastisement , as of the preceding , was , that the whole family drew yet more closely and lovingly together ; and I must say for Judy , that , after a few weeks of what she called poverty , her spirits seemed in no degree the worse for the trial . At Marion 's earnest entreaty no one told either Mr. or Mrs. Morley of the share she had had in saving his credit and social position .