midnight
`` You shall go with me . '' Half-an-hour later , we were at Gower Street , making preparations for our journey to Turin -- Simon calm and collected , I feverish and excited . There were , as I said , eight days in which to find Kaffar and bring him to London , counting the day on which we started our journey . It was Wednesday ; by the following Wednesday , at midnight , I must prove to Gertrude that Voltaire was a villain and a liar . It should be done easily . It was but little more than a thirty hours ' ride to Turin -- that is , providing everything went smoothly . To put it at the outside , it was only a forty-eight hours ' journey , allowing time for a sleep on the way .