a quarter to seven
`` You do n't do Christine justice , '' he had answered , `` if you think she would do that . '' His sister did not reply . She thought it would have been doing the girl injustice to suppose that she would do anything else . They were still sitting about the tea-table at a quarter to seven , when Christine and Mrs. Almar rose simultaneously . It was almost time for the arrival of Riatt , and neither had any fancy for meeting him save at her best -- in all the panoply of evening dress . `` We 're not dining till a quarter past eight , my dears , '' said Mrs. Ussher . Both ladies thought they would lie down before dinner .