a quarter
to ten
Anthony passed down the steps and walked quickly away . Before he had covered a hundred paces , he stopped and turned up his trousers . The sartorial forfeit to respectability had served its turn . When Mr. Hopkins , the butler , returned a little unsteadily at a quarter to ten to learn that his mistress had engaged a `` proper toff '' as his footman , he was profoundly moved . * * * * * A visit to the West End offices of _ Dogs ' Country Homes , Ltd. _ , which he made the next morning , satisfied Anthony that , by putting Patch in their charge , he was doing the best he could . There was a vacancy at the Hertfordshire branch , less than forty minutes from town , and he arranged to lodge the terrier there the same afternoon . For the sum of a guinea a week the little dog would be fed and housed and exercised .