half past eight exactly
Now there may be something among them which is of immediate importance to the relatives of the late deceased Malachi Withers , and therefore they must be forthwith submitted to the inspection of the surviving partner of the firm of Wibird and Penhallow . This I propose to do , with your consent , this evening . It is now twenty-five minutes past eight by the true time , as my watch has it . At half past eight exactly I shall have the honor of bidding you good evening , Miss Cynthia Badlam , whether you give me those papers or not . I shall go to the office of Jacob Penhallow , Esquire , and there make one of two communications to him ; to wit , these papers and the facts connected therewith , or another statement , the nature of which you may perhaps conjecture . '' There is no need of our speculating as to what Mr. Byles Gridley , an honorable and humane man , would have done , or what would have been the nature of that communication which he offered as an alternative to the perplexed woman . He had not at any rate miscalculated the strength of his appeal , which Cynthia interpreted as he expected .