midnight
`` Remember , '' she said as she gave it to me , `` the Father must be here next Saturday for the séance , which the Emperor will attend . He wishes again to consult the spirit of his father Alexander . Urge the Father to return at once . '' I promised to do her bidding , and , retiring , at once left the palace , and at midnight was on my way back to the far-off town on the Kama . On the evening of the following day I drove up to the monastery and there found Rasputin at dinner with the ex-conjurer Rouchine . When I entered the cosy little room in which the pair were seated , Rasputin had removed his long robe and was seated in his shirt-sleeves like the peasant he was . I handed him the letter from the German-born Empress , whereupon he said : `` Oh !