eight o'clock in the morning
There was no one with whom she could share the knowledge acquired at Wallingford ; that had to be endured alone . At Praed Street she found her aunt gazing at her curiously , sometimes beginning a sentence , and stopping , as one fearful of trespassing on prohibited ground . When Mr. Trew called , he and Mrs. Mills conferred in undertones , breaking off when the girl came near , and speaking , in an unconvincing way , of an interesting murder in South London ; Trew thought the police could find the missing man if they only went the right way about it . Great Titchfield Street , from eight o'clock in the morning till nearly eight at night , appeared to be enveloped in a dense fog , with Madame showing none of the distraction of mind natural to one on the edge of a financial crisis , and Bunny conveying friendliness by nods and furtive winks ; the girls , as always , chattered freely of their small romances , not concealing their derisive attitude towards young men , excepting as means of escort and paymasters where sweets and tram-tickets were involved ; any slackening of attention in these details , and dark hints were given of an intention of giving the sack . Listening , Gertie came to the conclusion that her own case was unique , in that she had allowed Henry Douglass to assume the position of autocrat . One of the men who worked the netting machine spoke to her exultantly of wisdom in managing his wife ; the method adopted was , it seemed , to contradict every blessed thing she said . On the top of all this comes Frederick Bulpert , encountered near Queen 's Hall one evening at five minutes to eight , trying to make up his mind whether to spend a shilling on a promenade concert or to disburse the money on a steak -- Bulpert very glad to meet Gertie , because he has something to say to her that he can not speak of to any one else ; something which must be regarded -LRB- says Frederick -RRB- as strictly _ entre nous _ .