nine o'clock sharp
`` And the mouth -- '' In a surge of passion I threw my arms around the beautiful cruel woman , and covered her face , arms , and breast with glowing kisses . She returned them with equal fervor -- the eyelids closed as in a dream . It was after midnight when she left . * * * * * At nine o'clock sharp in the morning everything was ready for departure , as she had ordered . We left the little Carpathian health-resort in a comfortable light carriage . The most interesting drama of my life had reached a point of development whose denouement it was then impossible to foretell . So far everything went well .