five o'clock
But when she had sponged her face and pinned on her hat , he said , in response to her beseeching eyes , which , as so often before , made the granting of this one request , a touchstone of his love for her : `` Look here , Lulu , if I possibly can , I 'll drop in at the end of the first act . Look out for me then , in the FOYER . '' And with this , she was forced to be content . When , shortly after five o'clock , Madeleine and Maurice arrived at the New Theatre , they took their places at the end of a queue which extended to the corner of the main building ; and before they had stood very long , so many fresh people had been added to the line , that it had lengthened out until it all but reached the arch of the theatre-cafe . Dove was well to the fore , and would be one of the first to gain the box-office . A quarter of an hour had still to elapse before the doors opened ; and Maurice borrowed his companion 's textbook , and read studiously , to acquaint himself with the plot of the opera . Madeleine took out Wolzogen 's FUHRER , with the intention of brushing up her knowledge of the motives ; but , before she had finished a page , she had grown so interested in what two people behind her were saying that she turned and took part in the conversation .