Nine o'clock
It was her last long walk with him before he went to France , her last intimate talk . It was very cold , and he took her arm , the snow crunched under their feet . Faintly the chimes of the old College came up to them . `` Nine o'clock , '' said the Doctor . `` Think of all the years I 've heard the chimes , I have lived over half a century -- and my father before me heard them -- and they rang in my grandfather 's time . Perhaps they will ring in the ears of my grandchildren , Jean . '' They had stopped to listen , but now they went on .