nine o'clock in the evening
It would have been far worse to let them go on living in their fool 's paradise . '' An hour later , as he walked down Regent street , he posted the letter he had written in the morning . `` It will be delivered at just about the right time , '' he thought . It was nine o'clock in the evening , and darkness had fallen rather earlier than usual , owing to a black , cloudy sky that threatened rain . Jimmie Drexell had gone during the afternoon , and Jack was alone in the big studio -- alone with his misery and his anguish . He had scarcely tasted food since morning , much to the distress of Alphonse . He looked a mere wreck of his former self -- haggard and unshaven , with hard lines around his weary eyes .