three in
the afternoon
Up to the present , I have determinedly denied such a possibility . But , mademoiselle , I put it to you : you have forgotten to tell us something of the very utmost importance , something quite out of the range of ordinary happenings , something phenomenal . Now here is the staggering fact I am faced with ! The other day , between two and three in the afternoon , at the Auteuil boarding-house where you are staying , you received a visit from your brother , Jacques Dollon , the supposed robber of the Princess Sonia Danidoff 's pearls , the suspected author of the robbery of rue du Quatre Septembre ; and , lastly , the fratricide , for what other explanation of the attack on you can be given -- an attempted murder beyond question -- and I add ... '' Fandor could not continue . His eyes were fixed on those of Elizabeth who , at the first words addressed to her by the journalist , had started up , trembling from head to foot ... . Their glances met , challenging , each seeking to quell , to subjugate the other ... . It seemed to the onlookers that they were witnessing an intense struggle between two very strong natures separated by a deep , a fathomless gulf ; that a veil , dark as night , hanging between them had been rent asunder , giving passage to an illuminating flash ; that this luminous ray carried with it all the revelations and the key to the fantastic mystery !