nine o'clock
`` Gretchen Haviland , '' he repeated slowly . `` That has quite a satisfactory ring to it . '' She complimented him on the quality of the tobacco when they were finished smoking . The hour was past nine o'clock , so they left the café and walked into the street . The fog had descended , lower and thicker than before . Occasional carriages appeared , rumbling quietly along . Tatters of mist blew sluggishly past the gaslights .