nine o'clock
`` You see , '' said Guido to Lamberti , when the physician was gone . `` It will be quite impossible for me to go out to-morrow , or for several days . '' `` Quite , '' Lamberti answered , looking for his straw hat . Lamberti dined at home that evening , and soon after nine o'clock he was on his way to the Palazzo Massimo . Though the evening was hot and close he walked there , for it was easier to think on his feet than leaning back in a cab . His normal condition was one of action and not of reflection . His thoughts also took an active dramatic shape .