nearly twelve o'clock
And when it were done , then he imagined that nothing in the world would be easier than to excuse himself to this amiable lad and to take him back to England without any loss of time whatever . In all a pretty plan , lacking only the finer judgment to discern the strength of the enemy 's force and not to despise them . Alban entered the sitting-room just as the Count had determined to have his breakfast . It was nearly twelve o'clock then and the fierce heat of the day made the streets intolerable . Few people were abroad in the great avenue -- there was no repetition of the disturbance of yesterday , nor any Cossack going at a gallop . Down below in the restaurant a bevy of smartly dressed women ate and gossiped to the music of a good Hungarian band . From distant streets there came an echo of gongs and the muffled hum of wheels ; the sirens of the steam-tugs screamed incessantly upon the sleepy river .