a quarter to nine
An arm-chair in her room invited her to rest and think -- the mask of a natural desire for sleep . At eight in the morning she was awakened by her maid , and at a touch exclaimed , ` Have they gone ? ' and her heart still throbbed after hearing that most of the gentlemen were in and about the stables . Cecilia was down-stairs at a quarter to nine . The breakfast-room was empty of all but Lord Palmet and Mr. Wardour - Devereux ; one selecting a cigar to light out of doors , the other debating between two pipes . She beckoned to Palmet , and commissioned him to inform Beauchamp that she wished him to drive her down to Bevisham in her pony-carriage . Palmet brought back word from Beauchamp that he had an appointment at ten o'clock in the town .