a quarter to twelve
The house was shut up for the night . Miriam looked up at the clock dizzily as she drank the last of her coffee . It marked half-past eleven . Fraulein had told her to be ready at a quarter to twelve . Her hands felt large and shaky and her feet were cold . The room was stifling -- bare and brown in the gaslight . She left it and crept through the hall where her trunk stood and up the creaking stairs .