twenty minutes to
twelve
`` So much , then , for the motives that are alleged to have actuated me . I hope you will conclude that I have answered the prosecution upon that matter . `` Coming to the question of fact , I can not find that there is anything to answer , for nothing has been proved against me . True , it has been proved that I arrived at Monsanto at half-past eleven or twenty minutes to twelve on the night of the 28th , and it has been further proved that half-an-hour later I was discovered kneeling beside the dead body of Count Samoval . But to say that this proves that I killed him is more , I think , if I understood him correctly , than Major Swan himself dares to assert . `` Major Swan is quite satisfied that Samoval came to Monsanto for the purpose of fighting a duel that had been prearranged ; and I admit that the two swords found , which have been proven the property of Count Samoval , and which , therefore , he must have brought with him , are a prima-facie proof of such a contention . But if we assume , gentlemen , that I had accepted a challenge from the Count , let me ask you , can you think of any place less likely to have been appointed or agreed to by me for the encounter than the garden of the adjutant-general 's quarters ?