"I observe," said Brodrick, "a few elementary rules, as you do yourself."
"But I don't want," she said, "to observe them any more. I want to put my foot through all the rules."
The front door bell rang as the chiming clock struck eight.
"That's John," he said, "and Henry."
"Did you ever put your foot through a rule? Did John? Did Henry? Fancy John setting out on an adventure with his hair brushed like that and his spectacles on——"
They were announced. She rose to greet them. They waited. The clock with its soft silver insistence struck the quarter. It was awful, she said, to have to live with a clock that struck the quarter; and Henry shook his head at her and said, "Nerves, Jinny, nerves."
John looked at his watch. "I thought," said John, "you dined at eight."
"So did I," said Brodrick. He turned to Jane. "Your friend Prothero does not observe the rule of punctuality."
"If they won't turn up in time," said Henry, "I should dine without them."
They did dine ultimately. Prothero turned up at a quarter to nine, entering with the joint. Laura was not with him. Laura couldn't, he said, "get off."