nine o'clock
`` And I hope , '' added my godmother in conclusion , `` the child will not be like her mamma ; as silly and frivolous a little flirt as ever sensible man was weak enough to marry . For , '' said she , `` Mr. Home _ is _ a sensible man in his way , though not very practical : he is fond of science , and lives half his life in a laboratory trying experiments -- a thing his butterfly wife could neither comprehend nor endure ; and indeed '' confessed my godmother , `` I should not have liked it myself . '' In answer to a question of mine , she further informed me that her late husband used to say , Mr. Home had derived this scientific turn from a maternal uncle , a French savant ; for he came , it seems ; of mixed French and Scottish origin , and had connections now living in France , of whom more than one wrote _ de _ before his name , and called himself noble . That same evening at nine o'clock , a servant was despatched to meet the coach by which our little visitor was expected . Mrs. Bretton and I sat alone in the drawing-room waiting her coming ; John Graham Bretton being absent on a visit to one of his schoolfellows who lived in the country . My godmother read the evening paper while she waited ; I sewed . It was a wet night ; the rain lashed the panes , and the wind sounded angry and restless .