nine o'clock
They will be here in a minute . May I order dinner for them ? ' ` Of course , they must have dinner , ' said her ladyship , resignedly , as if the whole thing were an infliction ; and Mary ran out and interviewed the butler , begging that all things might be made particularly comfortable for the travellers . It was nine o'clock , and the servants were enjoying their eventide repose . Having given her orders , Mary went back to the drawing-room , impatiently expectant of her brother 's arrival , for which event Lesbia and her grandmother waited with perfect tranquillity , the dowager calmly continuing the perusal of her _ Times _ , while Lesbia sat at her piano in a shadowy corner , and played one of Mendelssohn 's softest Lieder . To these dreamy strains Maulevrier and his friend presently entered . ` How d'ye do , grandmother ?