midnight
I half fell onto a sofa . `` Raoul , '' I said , in a queer stifled voice , `` the bag had in it the Duchess de Montpellier 's diamonds . '' IVOR DUNDAS ' PART Never had I been caught in a situation which I liked less than finding myself , long after midnight , locked by Maxine de Renzie into her boudoir , while within hearing she did her best to convince her lover that no stranger had come on her account to the house . I had never before visited her in Paris , though she had described her little place there to me when we knew each other in London ; and in groping about trying to find another door or a window in the dark room , I ran constant risks of making my presence known by stumbling against the furniture or knocking down some ornament . I dared not strike a match because of the sharp , rasping noise it would make , and I had to be as cautious as if I were treading with bare feet on glass , although I knew that Maxine was praying for me to be out of the house , and I was as far from wishing to linger as she was to have me stay . Only by a miracle did I save myself once or twice from upsetting a chair or a tall vase of flowers , on my way to a second door which was locked on the other side .