one o'clock precisely
`` And now , Sir Andrew , '' said Marguerite Blakeney , with the pretty nonchalance peculiar to herself , and with the most winning of smiles , `` will you venture to excite the jealousy of your fair lady by asking me to dance the minuet ? '' The few words which Marguerite Blakeney had managed to read on the half-scorched piece of paper , seemed literally to be the words of Fate . `` Start myself to-morrow ... '' This she had read quite distinctly ; then came a blur caused by the smoke of the candle , which obliterated the next few words ; but , right at the bottom , there was another sentence , which was now standing clearly and distinctly , like letters of fire , before her mental vision . `` If you wish to speak to me again , I shall be in the supper-room at one o'clock precisely . '' The whole was signed with the hastily-scrawled little device -- a tiny star-shaped flower , which had become so familiar to her . One o'clock precisely ! It was now close upon eleven , the last minuet was being danced , with Sir Andrew Ffoulkes and beautiful Lady Blakeney leading the couples , through its delicate and intricate figures .