about eight o'clock
Smiling quietly to himself , Whitaker watched her cast the boat off , get under way , and swing it out of sight behind the trees . Then his smile wavered and faded and gave place to a look of acute discontent . He rose and limped indoors to ransack Ember 's wardrobe for evening clothes -- which he failed , perhaps fortunately , to find . He regarded with an overwhelming sense of desolation the tremendous arid waste of time which must intervene before he dared expect her : a good four hours -- no , four and a half , since she would in all likelihood dine at a sensible hour , say about eight o'clock . By half-past eight , then , he might begin to look for her ; but , since she was indisputably no woman to cheapen herself , she would probably keep him waiting till nearly nine . Colossal waste of time , impossible to contemplate without exacerbation ... ! To make matters worse , Sum Fat innocently enough served Whitaker 's dinner promptly at six , under the misapprehension that a decent consideration for his foot would induce the young man to seek his bed something earlier than usual .