nine o'clock at night
Then they heard voices in the lobby -- the servant 's voice and another voice -- and a movement of steps over the encaustic tiles towards the door of the drawing-room . And Miss Morfe ejaculated : `` Really ! '' As though she was unwilling to believe that somebody on the other side of that drawing-room door contemplated committing a social outrage , she nevertheless began to fear the possibility . In the ordinary course it is not considered outrageous to enter a drawing-room -- even at nine o'clock at night -- with the permission and encouragement of the servant in charge of portals . But the case of the Morfes was peculiar . Mr Morfe was a bachelor aged forty-two , and looked older . Mary Morfe was a spinster aged thirty-eight , and looked thirty-seven .