sixteen minutes to nine
`` But how about that electric bell ? '' he asked . `` I disconnected it this morning at the trap with my manicure scissors an ' a hairpin , '' replied Rosalie , triumphantly . So , at sixteen minutes to nine , Dr. Blake , feeling a cross between a detective and a burglar , stole through the alley which backed the Markham residence , crossed the area , knocked softly at the kitchen door . It opened cautiously and then suddenly to show the kitchen , lighted with one dim lamp , and the ample form of Rosalie . With a finger on her lips , she closed the door behind him . His heart beat fast , less with a sense of impending adventure than with the thought , which struck him as he mounted the servants ' staircase , that he was divided but by thin walls from the object of all these strivings and diplomacies -- that for the second time in his life he was under her home roof with Annette .