a quarter to four
She promised , gravely . He knew that he could rely on her . Hurrying away lest Jean and the servant might emerge from the barber 's , he remembered with compunction that he had omitted to show any curiosity about Mimi 's back . The magnificent woman was to be waiting for him in the lounge of the Royal York Hotel at a quarter to four . She was coming in to Brighton by the Rottingdean omnibus , which function , unless the driver changes his mind , occurs once in every two or three hours . He , being under the necessity of telephoning to London on urgent business , had hired a bicycle and ridden in . Despite the accident to this prehistoric machine , he arrived at the Royal York half a minute before the Rottingdean omnibus passed through the Old Steine and set down the magnificent woman his wife .