eleven to a quarter to twelve
Henry Leroux wrote busily on . The light of the table-lamp , softened and enriched by its mosaic shade , gave an appearance of added opulence to the already handsome appointments of the room . The little table-clock ticked merrily from half-past eleven to a quarter to twelve . Into the cozy , bookish atmosphere of the novelist 's study penetrated the muffled chime of Big Ben ; it chimed the three-quarters . But , with his mind centered upon his work , Leroux wrote on ceaselessly . An odd figure of a man was this popular novelist , with patchy and untidy hair which lessened the otherwise striking contour of his brow .