one in the morning
But it could not be left standing in public places at odd hours , or for long , without attracting the interest of the police , and so was useless in the present emergency . Lanyard , however , entertained a shrewd suspicion that his plans might all miscarry and the command of a fast-travelling car soon prove essential to his salvation ; and he cheerfully devoted a good half-hour to putting the motor in prime trim for the road . With this accomplished -- and the facts established through discreet interrogation of madame la concierge that no enquiries had been made for `` Pierre Lamier , '' and that she had noticed no strange or otherwise questionable characters loitering in the neighbourhood of late -- he was ready for his first real step toward rehabilitation ... . It was past one in the morning when , with the girl on his arm , he issued forth into the dark and drowsy rue des Acacias and , moving swiftly , crossed the avenue de la Grande Armée . Thereafter , avoiding main-travelled highways , they struck southward through tangled side streets to aristocratic Passy , skirted the boulevards of the fortifications , and approached the private park of La Muette . The hôtel particulier of that wealthy and amiable eccentric , Madame Hélène Omber , was a souvenir of those days when Passy had been suburban . A survival of the Revolution , a vast , dour pile that had known few changes since the days of its construction , it occupied a large , unkempt park , irregularly triangular in shape , bounded by two streets and an avenue , and rendered private by high walls crowned with broken glass .