nine o'clock
Mr. Parsons asked . Michael stiffened suddenly as he looked out of the office window . `` Oh -- er , they will naturally have all I possess , '' he returned quickly . And now as he neared the Lodge gate , and nine o'clock struck , a suppressed excitement was in his veins . For no matter how eventful your life may be , or how accustomed you are to chances and vivid amusements , to be facing a marriage ceremony with a practically unknown young woman has aspects of originality in it calculated to set the pulses in motion . He had almost forgotten that side of the affair which meant freedom and safety for him from the claws of the Spider -- although he had learned upon his return home from London that she had , as Henry Fordyce had predicted that she might , `` popped in upon him , '' having motored over from Ebbsworth , and had left him a letter of surprised , intense displeasure at his unannounced absence . When five minutes had passed , and there was as yet no sign of his promised bride crossing the road from the Inn , Mr. Arranstoun began to experience an unpleasant impatience .