nine o'clock
They laughed across the table ; the strong light showed them the dear lines they knew on one another 's faces . `` That 's why , '' he cried brilliantly , `` I 've come at this ungodly hour . I had to be here . I got into London at nine o'clock and I went and had some dinner at the Station Hotel . But I felt wretched . Mother , I 'm getting , '' he announced with a naïve triumph , `` awfully domestic . I got the hump the minute Ellen left Edinburgh .