nine o'clock
He knew it by the pain in his head and other disagreeable signs ; also by the remarkable fact that he still wore the shirt and trousers of the day . And he knew that in spite of the pain he would have to get up and go down to breakfast as if nothing had happened ; he would have to meet Mr. Spinks ' eyes twinkling with malign intelligence , and Flossie 's wondering looks , and Mrs. Downey 's tender womanly concern , as he turned white over the bacon and the butter . He did n't know which were worse , the knowing eyes or the innocent ones . He had to be at the shop by nine o'clock , too , to force that poor , dizzy , aching head of his to its eight hours ' work . In this unnerved , attenuated state , this mortal paleness of mind and body , it was terrible to have to face the robust reality of `` Rickman 's '' . At nine o'clock in the morning it was more real to him than any real thing ; it even assumed an abominable personality ; it was an all-compelling , all-consuming power that sucked from him his time , his life , his energy , and for six days out of the seven required of him his soul . That at the same time it provided him with the means of bodily subsistence only added to the horror of the thing .