eleven
o'clock
ha ! '' Marcus echoed the laugh , but feebly . Then it occurred to him that Pet would soon be home , and he felt a strange aversion to meeting her , after what had happened . He therefore pleaded a pressing engagement at eleven o'clock -LRB- which it then was -RRB- , and took his departure from the inventor 's roof , but not without a warm and seemingly sincere invitation to `` call soon . '' Marcus walked slowly toward Broadway , musing and unhappy . To a man of his delicate and hyper-sensitive nature , an event of this kind was a vast disturbance . He felt that this anonymous letter was but the forerunner of a long series of troubles .