Anonymous. The class was not a beginners class, far from it. I can see the teacher wanted to finish the Change of Direction on beats 3 4 on the man's LF. Also thinking about it afterward the rest of the routine fitted into eight bars exactly, and kept us on 1234 and not 3412.
The answer to the other comment by Social Dancer. The half a bar, two beats, enabled the class to do the three slows in the Change of Direction and still stay in rhythm with the music and ultimately the phrasing also. This also doesn't contradict Guy Howard's Book.

just dance four slows in the bloody change of direction if you need to, but don't splice it onto an incompatible precede and use timing as an excuse

Anonymous. You wouldn't question the slow , man's RF, after a Progressive Chasse in the Quicksep to the centre before a Quick Open Reverse, because you have to and thats the way you have been taught. If you want a Change of Direction after a Three Step the same. Have you yet struck in the Foxtrot a Three Step Diagnal to the centre, followed by a Natural Wave with a heck of a lot of turn to bring it down the LOD and the lady staying in line all through the Wave. I just put this in to bring to your attention that there are a lot of moves being performed that would make Alex Moore turn in his grave.

Anonymous. I may be wrong but i don't think you have fallen in yet. In the Foxtrot after 456 of a Reverse Turn if that is followed by a Change of Direction with the timing as it is in the book. You would be in time but out of rhythm if you were to follow this with a Feather Step. You could do a Curving Feather, or a Double Reverse Spin or any step that starts on 1 2 on the man's LF. The same problem occurs with a Natural Turn, which nobody does anymore. This is with the timing as in the book.

So you should not dance those sequences, except as a brief interlude with intentional accent via displacement from the music.

What you are missing is that the change of direction is not a by the book follow for a three step. You can change things so it works, but once you start changing the action, changing the timing is equally permissable, if not more so.

No one will call you on putting an extra slow in a change of direction in order to come out on time, because it is already a pausing sort of figure. Putting two figures that don't go together together is a very different matter.

Anonymous. Put an extra slow into a Change of Direction after a Reverse Turn or a Natural in the Foxtrot you will get run over with that extra slow. Change the timing after the Reverse to q q s for the Change of Direction and you will live on. I put this in to show, as Alex Moore in his book wrote. I hope that no student will gulled into thinking that a Parrot's knowledge of its contents will be sufficient.