ten
minutes to five o'clock
`` Judge for yourself when you get a chance , '' Nash had said to him ; and as it turned out he was able to judge two days later , for he found his cousin in Balaklava Place on the Tuesday following his walk with their insufferable friend . He had not only stayed away from the theatre on the Monday evening -- he regarded this as an achievement of some importance -- but had not been near Miriam during the day . He had meant to absent himself from her company on Tuesday as well ; a determination confirmed by the fact that the afternoon turned to rain . But when at ten minutes to five o'clock he jumped into a hansom and directed his course to Saint John 's Wood it was precisely upon the weather that he shifted the responsibility of his behaviour . Miriam had dined when he reached the villa , but she was lying down , unduly fatigued , before going to the theatre . Mrs. Rooth was , however , in the drawing-room with three gentlemen , in two of whom the fourth visitor was not startled to recognise Basil Dashwood and Gabriel Nash . Dashwood appeared to have become Miriam 's brother-in-arms and a second child -- a fonder one -- to Mrs. Rooth ; it had reached Peter on some late visit that the young actor had finally moved his lodgings into the quarter , making himself a near neighbour for all sorts of convenience .