nine o'clock
You would n't be human if you could write a great book at the first attempt , would you ? '' That had consoled him for much , and very hopefully he sent the book on its third adventure , this time to Mr. Claude Jannissary , who called himself `` The Progressive Publisher . '' On the night before he was married , John , vaguely nervous , left his mother at Miss Squibb 's and went for a walk . All day , he had been `` on pins and needles , '' and now , although it was nine o'clock , he could not remain in the house any longer . He felt that his head would burst if he stayed indoors . The house seemed to be unusually stuffy , and the spectacle of Lizzie gazing at him with mawkish interest , made him wish to rise up and assault her . He had fidgetted about the room , taking a book from its shelf and then , without reading in it , replacing it , until his mother , observing him with cautious eyes , proposed that he should go for a walk .