ten minutes to eight
Will you say to Mr. Brent that Mrs. Spence would be greatly , obliged if he stopped a moment at her house before going to town ? Thank you . '' She returned to her room and dressed with feverish haste , trying to gather her wits for an ordeal which she felt it would have killed her to delay . At ten minutes to eight she emerged again and glanced anxiously at Mrs. Holt 's door ; and scarcely had she reached the lower hall before he drove into the circle . She was struck more forcibly than ever by the physical freshness of the man , and he bestowed on her , as he took her hand , the peculiar smile she knew so well , that always seemed to have an enigma behind it . At sight and touch of him the memory of what she had prepared to say vanished . `` Behold me , as ever , your obedient servant , '' he said , as he followed her into the screened-off portion of the porch .