a quarter to four
`` I must be growing deaf , Withers , in my old age . What does Miss Poppit want ? '' `` She hopes you will be able to go to tea this afternoon and play bridge . She expects that a few friends may look in at a quarter to four . '' A flood of lurid light poured into Miss Mapp 's mind . To expect that a few friends may look in was the orthodox way of announcing a regular party to which she had not been asked , and Miss Mapp knew as if by a special revelation that if she went , she would find that she made the eighth to complete two tables of bridge . When the butler opened the door , he would undoubtedly have in his hand a half sheet of paper on which were written the names of the expected friends , and if the caller 's name was not on that list , he would tell her with brazen impudence that neither Mrs. Poppit nor Miss Poppit were at home , while , before the baffled visitor had turned her back , he would admit another caller who duly appeared on his reference paper ... .