nine o'clock
She leaned forward , as if some thought long suppressed trembled on her lips ; then her courage or her desire failed her . She leaned back , letting her lashes droop over her eyes . `` I shall be home at eleven , '' she said below her breath . Loder dined with Lakely at Chilcote 's club ; and so absorbing were the political interests of the hour -- the resignation of Sir Robert Sefborough , the King 's summoning of Fraide , the probable features of the new ministry -- that it was after nine o'clock when at last he freed himself and drove to the `` Arcadian '' Theatre . The sound of music came to him as he entered the theatre -- light , measured music suggestive of tiny streams , toy lambs , and painted shepherdesses . It sounded singularly inappropriate to his mood -- as inappropriate as the theatre itself with its gay gilding , its pale tones of pink and blue . It was the setting of a different world -- a world of laughter , light thoughts , and shallow impulses , in which he had no part .