half past eight
I 'm not sure that I should care to be under an obligation to Hyde myself . Hullo , are you off ? '' Val had risen , folding the newspaper , laying it carefully down on his chair : in all his ways he was as neat as an old maid . `` I have to be at the managers ' meeting by half past eight , and it 's twenty past now . '' Watching his brother across the lawn , Rowsley cudgelled his brains to account for Val 's precipitate departure . The pretext was valid , for Val was always punctual , and yet it looked like a retreat -- not to say a rout . But what had he said to put Val to flight ?