twenty minutes to twelve before
Possibly , however , both were required . * * * * * Mr. Clarkson too was greatly _ intrigué _ that night . He yawned about the dressing-room till an unusually late hour , for Lord Talgarth generally retired to rest between ten and half-past . To-night , however , it was twenty minutes to twelve before the man stood up suddenly from the sofa at the sound of a vibration in the passage outside . The old man came in briskly , bearing a bundle of papers in one hand and a bed-candle in the other , with the same twinkle of good temper in his eyes that he had carried all the evening . `` Give me the dispatch-box under the sofa , '' he said ; `` the one in the leather case . '' This was done and the papers were laid in it , carefully , on the top .