a quarter past five
They might , at least , throw some light on his relations with the dancer . `` She had her dinner here by the fire , '' old Martha resumed her narrative , `` and about a quarter past nine comes your second tellygram , sir , saying as how you could not arrive till five o'clock in the morning . '' Desmond glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece . The hands pointed to a quarter past five ! He had lost all count of the time in his peregrinations of the night . `` I comes in here and tells the young lady as how you would n't be back last night , sir , '' the old woman continued , `` and she says , ` Oh , ' she says , ` then , where shall I go ? ' she says .