a quarter before
eleven
He put his arm about her . `` So you do , Mother , '' he said ; `` but then think how magnificently you sometimes pull them out again . '' Mr. Lanley had not reported the result of his interview immediately . He told himself that it was too late ; but it was only a quarter before eleven when he was back safe in his own library , feeling somehow not so safe as usual . He felt attacked , insulted ; and yet he also felt vivified and encouraged . He felt as he might have felt if some one , unbidden , had cut a vista on the Lanley estates , first outraged in his sense of property , but afterward delighted with the widened view and the fresher breeze . It was awkward , though , that he did n't want Adelaide to go into details as to his visit ; he did not think that the expedition to the pier could be given the judicial , grandfatherly tone that he wanted to give .