a quarter to seven
He was almost as bad as a female housekeeper . The little man evidently perceived my state of mind , for he stole away silently , leaving me rather penitent and ashamed , and , as I presently discovered on looking out of the window , resumed his vigil on the doorstep . From this coign of vantage he returned after a time to take away the tea-things ; and thereafter , though it was now dark as well as foggy , I could hear him softly flitting up and down the stairs with a gloomy stealthiness that at length reduced me to a condition as nervously apprehensive as his own . The Temple clock had announced in soft and confidential tones that it was a quarter to seven , in which statement it was stoutly supported by its colleague on our mantelpiece , and still there was no sign of Thorndyke . It was really a little strange , for he was the soul of punctuality , and moreover , his engagements were of such a kind as rendered punctuality possible . I was burning with impatience to impart my news to him , and this fact , together with the ghostly proceedings of Polton , worked me up to a state of nervous tension that rendered either rest or thought equally impossible . I looked out of the window at the lamp below , glaring redly through the fog , and then , opening the door , went out on to the landing to listen .