nearly eight o’clock
`` And now , Duke , be a good fellow , and give me some clothes . That brute Reeves has not brought me in one rag . '' `` Really it is hardly worth while . It is nearly eight o'clock , and I do n't know where your portmanteau was put . Shall I get you a book ? '' `` No ; but if you 'd get me a pen and ink , I want to write to mother . '' Such a desire was not too frequent in Cecil , and Fordham was glad enough to promote it , bringing in his own neat apparatus , with only a mild entreaty that his favourite pen might be well treated , and the sheets respected .