ten o’clock
The clerk turned and smiled at the fire , and warmed his other hand . The weather gave way . In half-an-hour there began a rapid thaw . By ten o'clock the roads , though still dangerous , were practicable to the extent of the half-mile required by the people of Knapwater Park . One mass of heavy leaden cloud spread over the whole sky ; the air began to feel damp and mild out of doors , though still cold and frosty within . They reached the church and passed up the nave , the deep-coloured glass of the narrow windows rendering the gloom of the morning almost night itself inside the building . Then the ceremony began .