twelve
o'clock
He bowed , and the gendarmes rose to their feet , refreshed and ruddy with the good wine . Of course I knew I could not accompany them , and I was too much frightened to have been of any use . Poor Mariuccia was crying in the kitchen . `` Send word to Jacovacci , the manager , if you do not hear by twelve o'clock , '' Nino called back from the landing , and the door closed behind them all . I was left alone , sad and frightened , and I felt very old -- much older than I am . It was tragic . Mechanically I sank into the old green arm-chair , where she had sat but yesterday evening -- she whom I had seen but twice , once in the theatre and once here , but of whom I had heard so much .