nine o'clock
`` The dog ! '' I exclaimed . `` After a long pause , I answered hesitatingly , telling him that I could not accede to his request , and that I withdrew my petition , craving permission to leave Whitehall to-morrow . Thereupon he fell into an ecstasy of entreaty , and when we parted he was very happy , for I had promised to take the documents to him at nine o'clock . He said I was to come to the privy stairs leading from the river to his closet and go up to him for his signature and seal , when he would execute the treaty immediately and send it by a trusted messenger to the Abbé du Boise . '' `` Ah , but how will you get away from the closet ? '' I asked .