a quarter to five
So much so that every hand on the place was doing its utmost in fear and trembling , and the whole affair was running with the precision and smoothness of a watch . From four o'clock onwards , Mr Blackshaw , in the solemn , illuminated privacy of the managerial office , safe behind glass partitions , could no more contain his excitement . He hovered in front of the telephone , waiting for it to ring . Then , at a quarter to five , just when he felt he could n't stand it any longer , and was about to ring up his wife instead of waiting for her to ring him up , he saw a burly shadow behind the glass door , and gave a desolate sigh . That shadow could only be thrown by one person , and that person was his Worship the Mayor of Bursley . His Worship entered the private office with mayoral assurance , pulling in his wake a stout old lady whom he introduced as his aunt from Wolverhampton . And he calmly proposed that Mr Blackshaw should show the mayoral aunt over the new Electricity Works !