about nine o'clock
He told himself that his principal reason for going was to get a little bit more information about Rose than her letters provided him with . But the anticipation he dwelt on with the greatest pleasure , really , was of saying , `` Oh , yes . Rose wrote that she 'd seen you . '' So one evening , after keeping up the pretense through his solitary dinner and the cigar that followed it , that he meant presently to go up to his study and correct galley proofs on an enormous brief , he slipped out about nine o'clock , and walked around to the Randolphs ' new house . This latest venture of Eleanor 's had attracted a good deal of comment among her friends . Somebody called it , with a rather cruel _ double entendre _ , Bertie Willis ' last word . In the obvious sense of the phrase , this was true .