noon
It was seven o'clock in the evening , ten days after Jack 's second encounter with Madge Foster , and a blaze of light shone from the big studio that overlooked Ravenscourt Park . The lord and master of it was writing business letters , a task in which he was assisted by frequent cigarettes . A tray containing whisky , brandy and siphons stood on a Moorish inlaid smoking stand , and suggested correctly that a visitor was expected . At noon Jack had received a letter from Victor Nevill , of whom he had seen nothing since their meeting at Strand-on-the-Green , to say that he was coming out at eight o'clock that night to have a chat over old times . Alphonse , being no longer required , had gone to his lodgings near by . `` It will be a bit awkward if Nevill wants his dinner , '' Jack said to himself , in an interval of his letter writing . `` I 'll keep him here a couple of hours , and then take him to dine in town .