nine o'clock
I sat by the fire and read four short stories to pass the time . Dennison poked his head into the room and withdrew it when he saw me . I congratulated myself upon that little incident , for I felt that if he understood how I hated the sight of him something would have been gained . At nine o'clock I left Collier and went to my rooms to wait for Ward . I did not expect him to be punctual , because I guessed that a dinner given by Bunny Langham would be difficult to leave . He turned up , however , in about half-an-hour , and said he was jolly glad to get away from the Sceptre . `` Bunny 's all right , '' he said , `` but some of his friends are too much -- even for me . ''