Nine o'clock
More than once he feared that he was about to awake to find bleak unhappiness where exquisite joy had reigned so gloriously . As it drew to an end a sense of depression came over him . An hour at most was all that he could have with her . Nine o'clock was drawing nigh with its regrets , its longings , its desolation . He determined to retain the pleasures of the present until , amid the clanging of bells and the roll of car wheels , the dismal future began . His intention to accompany them to the station was expressed as they were leaving the table . She had begun to say good-by to him when he interrupted , self-consciousness forcing the words hurriedly and disjointedly from his lips : `` You will let me go to the station with you .