nine o'clock
But she preferred listening to her brother . She would hurry through her housework and leave the door of the kitchen open the better to hear Olivier : but in spite of all her care he would complain impatiently of the noise she made with her pots and pans . Then she would close the door ; and , when she had finished , she would come and sit in a low chair , not near the piano -- -LRB- for he could not bear any one near him when he was playing -RRB- , -- but near the fireplace : and there she would sit curled up like a cat , with her back to the piano , and her eyes fixed on the golden eyes of the fire , in which a lump of coal was smoldering , and muse over her memories of the past . When nine o'clock rang she would have to pull herself together to remind Olivier that it was time to stop . It would be hard to drag him , and to drag herself , away from dreams : but Olivier would still have some work to do . And he must not go to bed too late . He would not obey her at once : he always needed a certain time in which to shake free of the music before he could apply himself seriously to his work .