eight
o'clock
` I do n't want them opened , thank you ; and if that is the spirit in which you are going to the Crescent , you deserve to fail , as you are sure to do . I am not sure whether I shall not tell your father , after all , ' she said icily . ` I do n't care if you do , ' he retorted , and banged out in ill-humour , which , however , gradually cooled down as he walked rapidly to the station . Finding no train for the city due for ten minutes , he threw himself into a hansom , and drove all the way , reaching his aunt 's house before eight o'clock . Although he ran up the steps at once , he did not immediately ring , but even went back into the street , and took a turn up to the end of the houses , surprised and irritated at his own nervous apprehension . Glancing up to the house when he again came opposite to it , he saw the three long windows of the drawing-room lighted , and pictured the scene within . It was a new and unwelcome sensation for him to feel any reluctance in entering a drawing-room where there were three charming girls , and at last , calling himself a fool , he ran up the steps a second time , and gave the bell a furious pull .