six o'clock
With what words was he to begin it ? To whom should it be written ? How was he to declare himself the villain which he had made himself ? The letters from his office were taken away every night shortly after six , and at six o'clock he had not written a word . `` I will do it at home to-night , '' he said to himself , and then , tearing off a scrap of paper , he scratched those few lines which Lily received , and which she had declined to communicate to her mother or sister . Crosbie , as he wrote them , conceived that they would in some way prepare the poor girl for the coming blow , -- that they would , at any rate , make her know that all was not right ; but in so supposing he had not counted on the constancy of her nature , nor had he thought of the promise which she had given him that nothing should make her doubt him . He wrote the scrap , and then taking his hat walked off through the gloom of the November evening up Charing Cross and St. Martin 's Lane , towards the Seven Dials and Bloomsbury , into regions of the town with which he had no business , and which he never frequented .