a quarter past one
He had stiffened his will against going ; without this he would have made for the stairs , and it seemed to him that , still with his eyes closed , he would have descended them , would have known how , straight and swiftly , to the bottom . Well , as he had held out , here he was -- still at the top , among the more intricate upper rooms and with the gauntlet of the others , of all the rest of the house , still to run when it should be his time to go . He would go at his time -- only at his time : did n't he go every night very much at the same hour ? He took out his watch -- there was light for that : it was scarcely a quarter past one , and he had never withdrawn so soon . He reached his lodgings for the most part at two -- with his walk of a quarter of an hour . He would wait for the last quarter -- he would n't stir till then ; and he kept his watch there with his eyes on it , reflecting while he held it that this deliberate wait , a wait with an effort , which he recognised , would serve perfectly for the attestation he desired to make . It would prove his courage -- unless indeed the latter might most be proved by his budging at last from his place .