twelve o'clock
`` She will control herself for the child 's sake . '' `` You ask too much of her . '' `` Of her , not , '' he emphasized . It was twelve o'clock when Hippias shut his watch , and said with vehemence : `` I 'm convinced my circulation gradually and steadily decreases ! '' `` Going back to the pre-Harvey period ? '' murmured Adrian as he wrote . Sir Austin and Lady Blandish knew well that any comment would introduce them to the interior of his machinery , the external view of which was sufficiently harrowing ; so they maintained a discreet reserve .