twenty-five minutes to nine
` Hallo ! ' cried Haddon , ` Ed has attended to the clock himself . What a good fellow he is . ' ` I looked at my watch ; it was twenty-five minutes to nine . ` Was the ceremony genuine then ? ' I asked . ` Ah , Valmont , ' said the young man , patting his wife affectionately on the shoulder , ` nothing on earth can be more genuine than that ceremony was . '