nine o'clock
Yet he was not too much engrossed to perceive the group opposite to him , or even to keep up a kind of half-conscious surveillance over them . At the landing the party dispersed , almost all to meet again in the evening at the unfinished house , which had been appropriated for a ball-room . Mrs. Bellairs drove her sister and Lucia home , leaving Mr. Bellairs and Mr. Percy to follow ; and when they arrived , the ladies had shut themselves up in their rooms , to drink tea and rest before dressing . At nine o'clock , while Mr. Percy was finishing his toilette , his host knocked at the door . `` Are you ready ? '' he asked . `` Elise was anxious to see the rooms before anybody arrived , so she and the girls are gone some time ago with Maurice Leigh . ''