four o’clock
I could not listen ; and James , Mr. Rassendyll 's servant , being informed of the summons , was at my elbow with a card of the trains from Strelsau to Zenda , without waiting for any order from me . I had talked to this man in the course of our journey , and discovered that he had been in the service of Lord Topham , formerly British Ambassador to the Court of Ruritania . How far he was acquainted with the secrets of his present master , I did not know , but his familiarity with the city and the country made him of great use to me . We discovered , to our annoyance , that no train left till four o'clock , and then only a slow one ; the result was that we could not arrive at the castle till past six o'clock . This hour was not absolutely too late , but I was of course eager to be on the scene of action as early as possible . `` You 'd better see if you can get a special , my lord , '' James suggested ; `` I 'll run on to the station and arrange about it . '' I agreed .