ten o'clock
Brian noticed the blush , and for the first time felt his heart contract with a bitter pang of jealousy . What right had Percival Heron to write letters to Elizabeth ? Why did she blush when she was asked a question about a letter from him ? The whole party set off soon after ten o'clock for an expedition to a little loch amongst the hills . They intended to lunch beside the loch , then to enjoy themselves in different ways : Mr. Heron meant to sketch ; Mrs. Heron took a novel to read ; the others proposed to visit a spring at some little distance known as `` The Wishing Well . '' This programme was satisfactorily carried out ; but it chanced that Kitty and the boys reached the well before the others , and then wandered away to reach a further height , so that Brian and Elizabeth found themselves alone together beside the Wishing Well . It was a lonely spot from which nothing but stretches of barren moor and rugged hills could be discerned .