nine o'clock
Granting its marvellous perfection , he recognized no more its beauty , dispassionately reviewed in turn each stone of matchless loveliness , no more susceptible to their seductive purity , perceiving in them nothing but hard , bright , translucent pebbles , cold , soulless , cruel . One by one they slipped through his fingers like beads of an unholy rosary . At length , crushing them together in the hollow of his palm , he stood a while in thought , then turning to his writing-desk bundled the necklace in wrappings of white tissue secured with rubber bands , counted carefully the sheaf of bills he had taken from Ekstrom , sealed the whole amount in a plain , long envelope , and put this aside in company with the necklace . Already two hours had passed and , since he meant to call at the house on West End Avenue well in advance of the hour when Cecelia Brooke might be there -- presuming Blensop to have given her the same appointment as he had given `` Mr. Ember , '' that is , nine o'clock -- it was now time to prepare . Returning to his bedchamber , he laid out a carefully selected change of clothing , shaved , parboiled himself in a hot bath , chilled him to the pith in one of icy coldness , and dressed with scrupulous heed to detail , studiously effacing every sign of his sleepless night . That experience was in no way to be surmised from his appearance when he sallied forth to breakfast at the Plaza . At eight precisely , presenting himself at the Stanistreet residence , he desired the footman to announce him as the author of a certain telegram from Edgartown .