twenty minutes to ten
`` One short month of my society , and the girl -- '' An avalanche of protest cut short the speaker . Adèle continued , gurgling . `` At first everything went all right . At twenty minutes to ten I put my head round the corner to see the chauffeur and Thorn disappearing at the other end of the yard . I stepped out of my cover and had a look round . There were stables on one side , and a coachhouse and garage on the other , and the yard , which was open at both ends , lay in between . I was just going to try the loose-boxes -- I was going to ` miaow ' like a cat and see what answer I got -- when I heard Bason 's voice calling Banana ... `` There was only one door open , and that was the garage .