midnight
There , shade the lamps , give me the book , and vanish . ' I obeyed , and presently met the great lady , a stout woman attended by a duenna , gliding fearfully through the darkened archways to learn the answer of the stars and pay many good pesos for it , and the sight of her made me laugh so much that I forgot quickly about the other lady and her woes . And now I must tell how I met my cousin and my enemy de Garcia for the second time . Two days after my meeting with the veiled lady it chanced that I was wandering towards midnight through a lonely part of the old city little frequented by passers-by . It was scarcely safe to be thus alone in such a place and hour , but the business with which I had been charged by my master was one that must be carried out unattended . Also I had no enemies whom I knew of , and was armed with the very sword that I had taken from de Garcia in the lane at Ditchingham , the sword that had slain my mother , and which I bore in the hope that it might serve to avenge her . In the use of this weapon I had grown expert enough by now , for every morning I took lessons in the art of fence .