a quarter to eight
But as he opened his mouth to speak , Cicely sitting there in front of him , crying , with a white face and strained eyes , there were voices on the stairs , the door opened , and Dick and Jim Graham came into the room . Cicely had not been missed from home until the evening . At tea-time she was supposed to be at the dower-house , or else at the Rectory . It was only when she had not returned at a quarter to eight , that the maid who waited upon her and her mother told Mrs. Clinton that she was not in her room . `` Where on earth can she be ? '' exclaimed Mrs. Clinton . Punctuality at meals being so rigidly observed it was unprecedented that Cicely should not have begun to dress at a quarter to eight .