midnight
His conscience , he answered , would not allow him to touch one penny of the treasure , which could only be legally drawn by a reigning King of England . In the early years of the King 's exile , Bugbee had sent considerable sums to his royal master , which he alleged were from his own purse ; but though he had since continued these , the annual amount had been reduced to a beggarly allowance . Still the old banker was the most trusted agent of the Royalists ; and weak George himself regarded with a vague respect , almost like fear , the inflexible integrity which controlled the conscience of this most devoted subject . Mrs. Oswald Carey did not hear the city clocks , which `` clashed and hammered '' the midnight hour , as her cab rolled up the tree-lined avenue of the pretentious house of `` The King 's Banker . '' The driver rang the bell ; and as the door almost instantly opened , Mrs. Carey , from the cab , saw several men in the wide hall , some sitting and others standing , like men in waiting . A tall flunkey took the card , closed the door , and Mrs. Oswald Carey had to wait in the cab a full minute . Then the door opened , and down the wide steps of the porch hobbled Mr. Bugbee , with gouty , tender feet , the top of his bald head shining under the lamp .