a quarter to nine
Except for a feeling of unreality , a feeling that the natural order of things had been disturbed by some necromancer , I was perfectly well the same morning at breakfast , as the doctor had predicted I should be . When I expressed to Mr Brindley my stupefaction at this happy sequel , he showed a polite but careless inability to follow my line of thought . It appeared that he was always well at breakfast , even when he did stay up ` a little later than usual ' . It appeared further that he always breakfasted at a quarter to nine , and read the Manchester Guardian during the meal , to which his wife did or did not descend -- according to the moods of the nursery ; and that he reached his office at a quarter to ten . That morning the mood of the nursery was apparently unpropitious . He and I were alone . I begged him not to pretermit his GUARDIAN , but to examine it and give me the news .