five minutes to nine
`` Could n't you play us something ? '' responded his wife . In the triumph of concertinas over grand pianos , poor Emanuel , lying wounded upstairs , was forgotten . At five minutes to nine Helen stole , unperceived , away from the domestic tableau . She had by no means recovered from her amazement ; but she had screened it off by main force in her mind , and she was now occupied with something far more important than the blameless amours of the richest old man in Hillport . By Wilbraham Water a young man was walking to and fro in the deep autumn night . He wore a cap and a muffler , but no overcoat , and his hands were pushed far down into the pockets of his trousers .