twenty minutes to three
He went up the stone steps out of the lane to the stile that overlooked the Frobishers , the stile from which he had watched the Frobisher bedroom . There he seated himself with his arms , folded , in full view of the house . That was at ten minutes to two . At twenty minutes to three he was still sitting there , but his hands were deep in his jacket pockets , and he was scowling and kicking his foot against the step with an impatient monotony . His needless glasses had been thrust into his waistcoat pocket -- where they remained throughout the afternoon -- and his cap was tilted a little back from his forehead and exposed a wisp of hair . One or two people had gone down the lane , and he had pretended not to see them , and a couple of hedge-sparrows chasing each other along the side of the sunlit , wind-rippled field had been his chief entertainment . It is unaccountable , no doubt , but he felt angry with her as the time crept on .