twenty-five minutes to twelve
Amelius sighed , and said no more . He took her out with him gravely and silently , when the cab was announced to be ready . `` Double your fare , '' he said , when he gave the driver his instructions , `` if you get there in a quarter of an hour . '' It wanted twenty-five minutes to twelve when the cab left the cottage . At that moment , the contrast of feeling between the two could hardly have been more strongly marked . In proportion as Amelius became more and more agitated , so Sally recovered the composure and confidence that she had lost . The first question she put to him related , not to her mother , but to his strange behaviour when he had knelt down to look at her foot .