six o'clock
But that opened Mr. Thomasson 's eyes . He saw that Pomeroy had reverted to his idea of the night before , and was bent on making the young fop drunk , and exposing him in that state to his mistress ; perhaps had the notion of pushing him on some rudeness that , unless she proved very compliant indeed , must ruin him for ever with her . Three was their dinner hour ; it was not yet four , yet already the young lord was flushed and a little flustered , talked fast , swore at Jarvey , and bragged of the girl lightly and without reserve . By six o'clock , if something were not done , he would be unmanageable . The tutor stood in no little awe of his host . He had tremors down his back when he thought of his violence ; nor was this dogged persistence in a design , as cruel as it was cunning , calculated to lessen the feeling . But he had five thousand pounds at stake , a fortune on which he had been pluming himself since noon ; it was no time for hesitation .