five minutes to four
Is it evening ? ' I cried with my hand to my forehead , like a person puzzled . ` Two three minutes past four . It had five minutes to four when I came upstairs , ' answered she , without interrupting her examination of a piece of darned lace which she was holding close to her eyes at the window . ` Oh , Madame ! _ Madame ! _ I 'm frightened , ' cried I , with a wild and piteous voice , grasping her arm , and looking up , as shipwrecked people may their last to heaven , into her inexorable eyes .