nine o'clock
OF MR. PELLEW 's CAUTION , AND A DARK GREEN FRITILLARY . WHAT YOU CAN DO AND CA N'T DO , WHEN YOU ARE A LADY AND GENTLEMAN At the Towers , in those days , there was always breakfast , but very few people came down to it . In saying this the story accepts the phraseology of the household , which must have known . Norbury the butler , for instance , who used the expression to the Hon. Percival Pellew , a guest who at half-past nine o'clock that morning expressed surprise at finding himself the only respondent to The Bell . It was the Mr. Pellew mentioned before , a Member of Parliament whose humorous speeches always commanded a hearing , even when he knew nothing about the subject under discussion ; which , indeed , was very frequently the case . Perhaps it was to keep his hand in that he adopted a tone of serious chaff to Mr. Norbury , such as some people think a well-chosen one towards children , to their great embarrassment . He replied to that most responsible of butlers with some pomposity of manner .