midnight
`` Singular , indeed , '' repeated the old man . `` But can you tell me the time ? '' `` Half-past-ten , '' the man informed him . `` I am to be at Chaillot at midnight only , '' said the old man to himself . `` It leaves me ample time to investigate this mystery . What a strange coincidence . '' After some hesitation , the old man entered the gate , glided into the obscurity of a by-path shaded by secular elm-trees , and walked on toward the mansion .