a quarter to seven
`` I execute her will ungrudgingly and with the conviction that it is the right and proper course for me to take , '' he continued . `` You will forgive me some of the ill which I have done you , Maisie , when I tell you that I really died this morning -- all unknown to Cumberledge and you -- and that nothing but my will force has sufficed to keep spirit and body together until I should carry out your will in the manner which you suggested . I shall be glad when I have finished , for the effort is a painful one , and I long for the peace of dissolution . It is now a quarter to seven . I have every hope that I may be able to leave before eight . '' It was strange to hear the perfect coolness with which he discussed his own approaching dissolution . Calm , pale , and impassive , his manner was that of a professor addressing his class .