about six o'clock
The naughty , headstrong child that runs away from home does not get far without a realizing sense of its happy shelter . She divined that the long ride through the dark , with an unknown man , toward an unknown goal , would have already subdued Dorothea 's spirits to the point where she would be only too glad to find herself dropping into familiar , feminine arms . At eleven o'clock she got up from her couch with a vague impulse to be in a more direct attitude of welcome . At half-past eleven she went to the office to inquire of the manager how long a motor going slowly should take to reach Lakefield from New York , assuming that it had got away from the city about six o'clock . Alarmed by his reply , she begged him to keep a certain number of the servants up , and the hotel in readiness to cope with any emergency or accident , promising liberal remuneration for all unusual work . After that came another long hour of waiting . It was about half-past twelve when there was a sound of a carriage coming up the driveway .