ten o'clock
The housemaid was waiting on the stairs . The butler was waiting in the hall . Till that hurried knock was heard at the front door , and the much-tried Wilson had rushed to open it , the house had been wrapped in a sort of storm silence . It was ten o'clock on the night of the ball . Half Kitty 's costume lay spread out upon her bed . The other half -- although since seven o'clock all Kitty 's servants had been employed in rushing to Fanchette 's establishment in New Bond Street , at half-hour intervals , in the fastest hansoms to be found -- had not yet appeared . However , here at last was the end of despair .