nine o’clock
After this Simon said no more , for he had this virtue , so useful in domestic life -- he knew when to yield . On this same morning Adrian rose late . The talk at the supper table on the previous night , especially Foy 's coarse , uneducated sarcasm , had ruffled his temper , and when Adrian 's temper was ruffled he generally found it necessary to sleep himself into good humour . As the bookkeeper of the establishment , for his stepfather had never been able to induce him to take an active part in its work , which in his heart he considered beneath him , Adrian should have been in the office by nine o'clock . Not having risen before ten , however , nor eaten his breakfast until after eleven , this was clearly impossible . Then he remembered that here was a good chance of finishing a sonnet , of which the last lines were running in his head . It chanced that Adrian was a bit of a poet , and , like most poets , he found quiet essential to the art of composition .