nearly nine o’clock
If Alice imagined him strolling at his ease about the fashionable lounges of the town , she was much mistaken . He worked hard and enjoyed his work , on the sole condition that he was engaged in overreaching someone . This flattered his humour . He could not find leisure to dine till nearly nine o'clock . He had made up his mind not to return to Wimbledon , but to make use of a certain _ pied-a-terre _ which he had in Pimlico . His day 's work ended in Westminster , he dined at a restaurant with a friend . Afterwards billiards were proposed .