ten in the morning
Tinker strolled along to the Café du Printemps , and found his father sitting before it on the usual uncomfortable little chair before the usual white-topped table . He saw that his father 's face wore the same expression as Dorothy 's had worn before he had insisted on coming to her aid . Then he saw , with something of a shock , that a glass of absinthe stood on the table . Things must , indeed , be in a bad way if his father drank absinthe at half-past ten in the morning . However , he hid his disapproval , and sitting down on another uncomfortable chair , he said gently , `` What does it mean when a lady is compromised , sir ? '' `` It means that some accident or other has given malignant fools a chance of gossipping about her , '' said Sir Tancred in an unamiable tone . `` And the man has to marry her ? ''