nine o'clock
`` Nay , did I not tell you that I have sent Summers express , with a note to Lady Ellinor begging her to come here ? I did not see , on reflection , how I could decorously accompany Miss Trevanion alone , without even a female servant , to a house full of gossiping guests . And even had your uncle been well enough to go with us , his presence would but have created an additional cause for wonder ; so as soon as we arrived , and while you went up with the Captain , I wrote my letter and despatched my man . I expect Lady Ellinor will be here before nine o'clock . Meanwhile I have already seen that infamous waiting-woman , and taken care to prevent any danger from her garrulity . And you will be pleased to hear that I have hit upon a mode of satisfying the curiosity of our friend Mrs. Grundy -- that is , ` the World ' -- without injury to any one . We must suppose that that footman of Trevanion 's was out of his mind , -- it is but a charitable , and your good father would say a philosophical , supposition .