a quarter before seven
He did not want to present himself before strangers -- who , no doubt , only wanted to make a barter of any knowledge they possessed as to Marian 's whereabouts -- in a state of mental excitement . The address to which he was going mystified him beyond measure . What could people living in such a place as this know of her whom he sought ? He was in Wardour Street at a quarter before seven , but he had considerable trouble in finding Queen Anne 's Court , and the clocks of the neighbourhood were striking the hour as he turned into a narrow alley with dingy-looking shops on one side and a high dead wall on the other . The gas was glimmering faintly in the window of No. 5 , and a good deal of old silver , tarnished and blackened , huddled together behind the wire-guarded glass , was dimly visible in the uncertain light . There was some old jewellery too , and a little wooden bowl of sovereigns or gold coins of some kind or other . On a brass plate upon the door of this establishment there appeared the name of Jacob Nowell , silversmith and money-changer .