about nine
o'clock
There was not a single boarder in the house : it was empty . * * * * * Having made certain that her manservant , Jules , and her cook , Marianne , had retired to their respective rooms , Madame Bourrat conducted Fandor as far as the door of her dwelling . They had been so interested in their talk , that they had forgotten all about dinner : their experiences of the past few hours had left them with little appetite . It was about nine o'clock ; night had fallen : house and garden were wrapped in a mantle of darkness . `` Can you find your way ? '' asked Madame Bourrat . If she accompanied the journalist to her garden gate she would have to grope back to the house in the dark , and alone !