nine o'clock
`` He is a very odd sort of man , and he never comes to London if he can help it . '' Eames had by no means done his work for that evening when he left Mr. Dale and Lily at their lodgings . He had other business on hand to which he had promised to give attention , and another person to see who would welcome his coming quite as warmly , though by no means as pleasantly , as Lily Dale . It was then just nine o'clock , and as he had told Miss Demolines , -- Madalina we may as well call her now , -- that he would be in Porchester Terrace by nine at the latest , it was incumbent on him to make haste . He got into a cab , and bid the cabman drive hard , and lighting a cigar , began to inquire of himself whether it was well for him to hurry away from the presence of Lily Dale to that of Madalina Demolines . He felt that he was half-ashamed of what he was doing . Though he declared to himself over and over again that he never had said a word , and never intended to say a word , to Madalina , which all the world might not hear , yet he knew that he was doing amiss .