midnight
The clock struck very soon after the boy left . I remember it well , because his lordship 's supper had been ordered for ten , and the waiter just entered to lay the cloth when the lad left , and his lordship sat down to supper at ten precisely . After the supper-service had been removed , his lordship went to his writing-desk and wrote for an hour , and then sealed and dispatched a packet directed to the _ Liberal Statesman _ . I took it myself to the Post-Office , to ensure its being in time for the midnight mail . It was then about half-past eleven o'clock . I was gone on my message for about five minutes . On my return I found my master where I had left him , sitting at his writing-desk , arranging his papers .