six in the evening
If I had had any chance of meeting her I should have declined Ruffiano 's invitation ; but the night seemed likely to be vacant of employment , the old man seemed solicitous , and I saw no reason for refusing him . Quite apart from that it would , as he suggested , be agreeable and perhaps useful to know at first-hand what an Italian thought of the chances of the rising which must have been imminent when he left his country . So I made arrangements to meet Ruffiano and to dine with him at the same Italian restaurant in the upper room of which we held our meeting , and after this I shook hands and went about my own business . It was dark when we met again , for this was only the fifth day of March , and it was about half-past six in the evening . Ruffiano told me that he had left word at Brunow 's lodgings that he might be found here , and we ate our simple dinner , drank our half-flask of Chianti together , and had already reached our coffee and cigars when Brunow came to keep his appointment . He was astonished to find me there , and , I thought , disagreeably astonished . Remembering the terms on which we had parted when we had last Been each other , I was a little surprised at this .