nine o'clock
Mrs. Vane may be there again , or the General , and a host o ' folks . It would only bother them , and do my master no good , if you went to-night . To-morrow morning 'll be the time . And now I must be going ; for I could only get away while my wife was there , and she wanted to get back to the children by nine o'clock . '' So Jenkins took his leave , and Cynthia went up to her room to dress for her party . What a mockery it seemed to her to don her pretty frock , her ornaments , her flowers -- to see herself a radiant vision of youth and loveliness in her mirror -- while all the time her heart was bleeding for her lover 's suffering , and he lay tossing upon a bed of sickness , calling vainly upon her name ! If she could have done as she liked , she would have relinquished all her engagements and sought his bedside at once .