four o'clock
The malgamite makers were bidden to come as soon as they liked . After luncheon Cornish had to hurry back to Great George Street . This was one of his busy days . At four o'clock there was to be a meeting of the floor committee of the approaching ball , and Cornish remembered that he had been specially told to get a new bass string for the banjo . The Hon. Rupert Dalkyn had promised to come , but had vowed that he would not touch the banjo again unless it had new strings . So Cornish bought the bass string at the Army and Navy Stores , and the first preparation for the meeting of the floor committee was the tuning of the banjo by the German clerk . There were , of course , flowers to be bought and arranged _ tant bien que mal _ in empty ink-stands , a conceit of Joan 's , who refused to spend the fund money in any ornament less serious , while she quite recognized the necessity for flowers on the table of a mixed committee .