nine o’clock
Mrs. Dawson was not Mr. Dawson 's wife , for he was a bachelor . She was his crippled sister , an old maid , who had , what she called , taken her brevet rank . After we had been about a fortnight in Edinburgh , Mr. Dawson said , in a sort of half doubtful manner to Miss Duncan -- `` My sister bids me say , that every Monday evening a few friends come in to sit round her sofa for an hour or so , -- some before going to gayer parties -- and that if you and Miss Greatorex would like a little change , she would only be too glad to see you . Any time from seven to eight to-night ; and I must add my injunctions , both for her sake , and for that of my little patient 's , here , that you leave at nine o'clock . After all , I do not know if you will care to come ; but Margaret bade me ask you ; '' and he glanced up suspiciously and sharply at us . If either of us had felt the slightest reluctance , however well disguised by manner , to accept this invitation , I am sure he would have at once detected our feelings , and withdrawn it ; so jealous and chary was he of anything pertaining to the appreciation of this beloved sister . But if it had been to spend an evening at the dentist 's , I believe I should have welcomed the invitation , so weary was I of the monotony of the nights in our lodgings ; and as for Miss Duncan , an invitation to tea was of itself a pure and unmixed honour , and one to be accepted with all becoming form and gratitude : so Mr. Dawson 's sharp glances over his spectacles failed to detect anything but the truest pleasure , and he went on .