nine o'clock
She had risen before ringing for her maid , and had carefully removed the paper from the three little cakes of white stuff which she had made . It had to be done cleverly , for the smaller ones seemed likely to crumble ; but the large one was quite consistent . She had hidden them all in the drawer she kept locked ; then she had unfastened her door and had rung the bell . It was past nine o'clock , and her maid had brought her a letter with her coffee . It was very short , but the few words it contained were exceedingly disquieting . It was accompanied by a card on which Matilde read ` Giuditta Astarita , Sonnambula , ' and the address was below , in one corner . The few words of the letter , written in a subtle , sloping , feminine handwriting , correctly spelt and grammatically well expressed , ran as follows : -- `` The spirit of B.M. wishes to make you an important communication and torments me continually .