a
quarter to ten
He knew he had neglected them since they came to New York , where he had led them to expect interest , if not attention ; but he was used to neglecting people , and he was somewhat less used to being punished for it -- punished and forgiven . He felt that Alma had punished him so thoroughly that she ought to have been satisfied with her work and to have forgiven him in her heart afterward . He bore no resentment after the first tingling moments were past ; he rather admired her for it ; and he would have been ready to go back half an hour later and accept pardon and be on the footing of last summer again . Even now he debated with himself whether it was too late to call ; but , decidedly , a quarter to ten seemed late . The next day he determined never to call upon the Leightons again ; but he had no reason for this ; it merely came into a transitory scheme of conduct , of retirement from the society of women altogether ; and after dinner he went round to see them . He asked for the ladies , and they all three received him , Alma not without a surprise that intimated itself to him , and her mother with no appreciable relenting ; Miss Woodburn , with the needlework which she found easier to be voluble over than a book , expressed in her welcome a neutrality both cordial to Beaton and loyal to Alma . `` Is it snowing outdo 's ? ''