a quarter
past eight
It was transparent , but he smiled less at the artifice than at the irony of his being dragged to the house against his will and better judgement ... `` I 'd come , if I could , '' he answered hesitatingly . `` The trouble is that I 've invited this man for eight and I sha n't be able to get away from here till half-past seven at earliest . I 'll do my best -- '' `` I 'm depending on you , Mr. Lane . '' Dinner , but no one to share it with him , had been ordered for a quarter past eight . He telephoned at seven to say that he might be a little late and set out for Berkeley Square . Barbara was alone when he arrived , and he entered her room in some embarrassment . He could not imagine Sybil 's receiving male visitors in her bedroom , and he was shy to find himself alone with Barbara and to see her lying in a blue silk kimono with the Persian kitten asleep on a chair by her side and two tables submerged by Madonna lilies .