about twelve o'clock
Following a most brilliant speech in the House , which would win admiration and applause from end to end of the Empire , he would , perhaps on the following day , exhibit something very like stupidity in debate . He would rise to address the House and take his seat again without having uttered a word . He was eccentric , said his admirers , but there were others who looked deeper for an explanation , yet failed to find one , and were thrown back upon theories . M. Max , by strategy , masterful because it was simple , so arranged matters that at about twelve o'clock he found himself strolling with Sir Brian Malpas toward the latter 's chambers in Piccadilly . A man who wore a raincoat with the collar turned up and buttoned tightly about his throat , and whose peculiar bowler hat seemed to be so tightly pressed upon his head that it might have been glued there , detached himself from the shadows of the neighboring cab rank as M. Gaston Max and Sir Brian Malpas quitted the Club , and followed them at a discreet distance . It was a clear , fine night , and both gentlemen formed conspicuous figures , Sir Brian because of his unusual height and upright military bearing , and the Frenchman by reason of his picturesque cloak and hat . Up Northumberland Avenue , across Trafalgar Square and so on up to Piccadilly Circus went the two , deep in conversation ; with the tireless man in the raincoat always dogging their footsteps .