nine o’clock
`` I must get back to my shop . Is he to come with me , or to stop here -- a spectacle for every one that comes in ? '' But at this moment , before the question could be decided -- though you may rest assured Mrs. Jenkins would only allow it to be decided in her own way -- hasty footsteps were heard in the passage , and the door was thrown open by Arthur Channing . When Hamish Channing joined the breakfast-table at home that morning at nine o'clock , he mentioned his adventure at the station with Lady Augusta Yorke . It was the first intimation they had received of Roland 's departure ; indeed , the first that some of them had heard of his intention to depart . Arthur laid down his knife and fork . To him alone could the full consequences of the step present themselves , as regarded Mr. Galloway .