nine o'clock
Later on , when the victoria was well away from the fort , Dagmar took her companion to task for holding in public friendly discourse with a member of the guard , whoever he might be . `` It is altogether contrary to custom , and -- '' but Beverly put her hand over the critical lips and smiled like a guilty child . `` Now , do n't scold , '' she pleaded , and the countess could go no further . The following morning Count Marlanx reported at nine o'clock with much better grace than he had suspected himself capable of exercising . What she taught him of tennis on the royal courts , in the presence of an amused audience , was as nothing to what he learned of strategy as it can be practiced by a whimsical girl . Almost before he knew it she had won exemption for Baldos , that being the stake for the first set of singles . To his credit , the count was game .