six o'clock
`` It will no doubt be horrible , but at least we can have it in here . The public dining-room would be impossible . I will find Mr. Dinwiddie and ask him to order it . '' When the men returned from their fishing trip at six o'clock they saw several of the women on the lake , but there was no one in the living-room . Clavering tapped at Mr. Dinwiddie 's door , but as there was no answer , concluded that he and Mary had not yet returned from Huntersville . He was too desirous of a bath and clean clothes , however , to feel more than a fleeting disappointment , and it was not until his return to his room that he saw a letter lying on the table . It was addressed in Mary 's handwriting , and he stared at it in astonishment for a second , then tore it open .