nine o'clock
If such a parentage in itself involves stain and degradation , the stain and degradation had been always there , and the situation , looked at philosophically , was no worse for the catastrophe which had intervened between this week and last . And yet it was of course immeasurably worse ! Such is the `` bubble reputation '' -- the difference between the known and the unknown . At nine o'clock a note was brought to his room : `` Will you breakfast with me in half an hour ? You will find me alone . `` E.M. '' Before the clock struck the half-hour , Elizabeth was already waiting for her guest , listening for every sound . She too had been awake half the night .