twenty minutes to nine
`` Open the window , '' I said to Atkinson , `` and persuade Mr. Gurrage to go to bed when he wakes . '' And I left the room . All my guests were assembled when I got into the first drawing-room . Indeed , it was twenty minutes to nine . Mrs. Dodd had the air of an aggrieved turkey-gobbler . I felt she would fly at some one . `` We thought we should not get any dinner , Mrs. Gussie , '' she said , huffily .