about nine
o'clock
`` I do not mean to be unkind , but you must be told the truth . Every minute that you spend in thinking of that man is a disgrace to you . '' `` Then I shall be disgraced all my life , '' said Lady Anna , bursting out of the room . On that day the Serjeant dined at his club , but came home about nine o'clock . It had all been planned so that the information might be given in the most solemn manner possible . The two girls were sitting up in the drawing-room with the guest who , since the conversation in the morning , had only seen Mrs. Bluestone during dinner . First there was the knock at the door , and then , after a quarter of an hour , which was spent up-stairs in perfect silence , there came a message .