four o'clock
She in the meantime had left by the train , and reached Alfredston Road , where she entered the steam-tram and was conveyed into the town . It had been her request to Phillotson that he should not meet her . She wished , she said , to come to him voluntarily , to his very house and hearthstone . It was Friday evening , which had been chosen because the schoolmaster was disengaged at four o'clock that day till the Monday morning following . The little car she hired at the Bear to drive her to Marygreen set her down at the end of the lane , half a mile from the village , by her desire , and preceded her to the schoolhouse with such portion of her luggage as she had brought . On its return she encountered it , and asked the driver if he had found the master 's house open . The man informed her that he had , and that her things had been taken in by the schoolmaster himself .