a quarter past eight
Before deciding whether to send his letter by hand , Eric ascertained that , by posting it , he could be sure of its reaching its destination by the last delivery . Then he walked through the Park with Lord Ettrick , left him at the door of the Privy Council Office and returned home for an hour 's work before rehearsal . On leaving the Regency , he came back to Ryder Street and dressed for dinner . His own letters clattered into their wire cage at a quarter past eight , and , before sitting down to dinner , he transferred the telephone to his dining-room . The child was unlikely to refuse so open an invitation to ring up and say that all was well ... . There was no call during dinner , no call as he worked in the smoking-room with the telephone and lamp on a table at his elbow , no call when he went to bed , though he lay reading for half-an-hour after his usual time , to be ready for her . The morning brought a pencilled note -LRB- `` Surprisingly tidy hand , '' Eric commented , `` seeing what she 's like '' -RRB- , instinct with a new aloofness and restraint . ''