nine o'clock
`` There , now you can go . But quietly , quietly . '' I had all the trouble in the world to curb the ardor of King Hiram who dragged me along the shadowy labyrinth of corridors . It was shortly before nine o'clock , and the rose-colored night lights were almost burned out in the niches . Now and then , we passed one which was casting its last flickers . What a labyrinth ! I realized that from here on I would not recognize the way to her room .