nine o'clock
`` Something cool , I should advise , '' he said . `` The place will be like a furnace today . '' He pushed back his chair as he spoke and went away to his study . Tom had to hurry away , too , being due at his office by nine o'clock ; and Erica began to rack her brains to devise the nicest of dinners for them that evening . She dressed in good time , and was waiting for her father in the green room when just before ten o'clock the front door opened , quick steps came up the stairs , and , to her amazement , Tom entered . `` Back again ! '' she exclaimed .