midnight
She would be there waiting for me , I was sure , no matter how prompt I might be , for though in ordinary circumstances , after the first performance of a new play , either Maxine would have gone out to supper , or invited guests to sup with her , she would have accepted no invitation , given none , for to-night . She would hurry out of the theatre , probably without waiting to remove her stage make-up , and she would go home unaccompanied , except by her maid . Maxine lives in a charming little old-fashioned house , set back in its own garden , a great `` find '' in a good quarter of Paris ; and her house could he reached in ten minutes ' drive from my hotel . I would not go as far as the gate , but would dismiss my cab at the corner of the quiet street , as it would not he wise to advertise the fact that Mademoiselle de Renzie was receiving a visit from a young man at midnight . Fifteen minutes would give me plenty of time for all this : therefore , at about a quarter to twelve I started to go downstairs , and in the entrance hall almost ran against the last person on earth I expected to see -- Diana Forrest . She was not alone , of course ; but for a second or two I saw no one else . There was none other except her precious and beautiful face in the world ; and for a wild instant I asked myself if she had come here to see me , to take back all her cruel words of misunderstanding , and to take me hack also .