nine in the morning
The next day I came to my new quarters . I found that he was a bachelor , with a niece , apparently about four or five and twenty years old , acting as a housekeeper , who assisted him in literary work . My own room was at the top of the house , warm , quiet , and comfortable , although the view was nothing but a wide reaching assemblage of chimney-pots . My hours were long -- from nine in the morning till seven in the evening ; but this I did not mind . I felt that if I was not happy , I was at least protected , and that I was with a man who cared for me , and for whom I cared . The first day I went there , he said that I could have a fire in my bedroom whenever I chose , so that I could always retreat to it when I wished to be by myself . As for my duties , I was to sell his books , keep his accounts , read proofs , run errands , and in short do just what he did himself .