nearly ten
o'clock
It took Benham two hours of stumbling and walking , with a little fence climbing and some barbed wire thrown in , before he got down into Shere to the shelter of a friendly little inn . And then he negotiated a satisfying meal , with beef-steak as its central fact , and stipulated for a fire in his bedroom . The landlord was a pleasant-faced man ; he attended to Benham himself and displayed a fine sense of comfort . He could produce wine , a half-bottle of Australian hock , Big Tree brand No. 8 , a virile wine , he thought of sardines to precede the meal , he provided a substantial Welsh rarebit by way of a savoury , he did not mind in the least that it was nearly ten o'clock . He ended by suggesting coffee . `` And a liqueur ? '' Benham had some Benedictine !