seven o'clock
Will you come and have tea with me this evening ? '' Riddell turned pale at the bare suggestion , and would probably have invented some wild excuse to get off the dreaded honour had not the doctor continued , `` I 'm sorry Mrs Patrick and her sister are from home ; they take a great interest in you , I can assure you . '' `` Oh , not at all , '' cried Riddell , whom the bare mention of those ladies ' names was sufficient to confuse hopelessly . `` Come at seven o'clock , will you ? '' said the doctor , pleasantly , not noticing his head boy 's perturbation . Riddell continued his walk in a state of considerable perplexity . For some moments he could not get beyond the fact that Mrs Patrick and Miss Stringer were from home , and the relief of that reflection was unspeakable .