eight o'clock
`` I could -- '' He stopped abruptly , for at that moment he discovered that the captured weapon had been removed from his pocket . `` I 'm afraid it 's hopeless , '' said Marishka bitterly . Renwick glanced at his watch . `` Only eight o'clock . Even now we could -- '' He rose and walked to the window , peering through a crack in the shutter , but an attack of vertigo caused him to sink into a chair . She regarded him dubiously , pride and compassion struggling , but she said nothing . `` Beastly stupid of me , '' he groaned .