seven o'clock
The light flashed on wet leaves , the birds were awaking . A little steamer went up the satiny , dreaming surface of the river , and when Harriet walked through the village , heartening whiffs of boiling coffee and wood smoke came from the labourers ' cottages . She was young ; she could have danced with exultation in the hour and mood . It was almost seven o'clock when she came back , glowing , beginning to feel warm and headachy , beginning to realize that the July day would be hot , beginning to be conscious of the eight-mile tramp . In the garden at Crownlands she met Royal , leaving the house . He studied her approvingly . `` Harriet , do you know you are extraordinarily easy to look upon ?