two o'clock
ON the following day , on his return from the funeral Pierre lunched alone in his room , having decided to take leave of the Cardinal and Donna Serafina during the afternoon . He was quitting Rome that evening by the train which started at seventeen minutes past ten . There was nothing to detain him any longer ; there was only one visit which he desired to make , a visit to old Orlando , with whom he had promised to have a long chat prior to his departure . And so a little before two o'clock he sent for a cab which took him to the Via Venti Settembre . A fine rain had fallen all night , its moisture steeping the city in grey vapour ; and though this rain had now ceased the sky remained very dark , and the huge new mansions of the Via Venti Settembre were quite livid , interminably mournful with their balconies ever of the same pattern and their regular and endless rows of windows . The Ministry of Finances , that colossal pile of masonry and sculpture , looked in particular like a dead town , a huge bloodless body whence all life had withdrawn . On the other hand , although all was so gloomy the rain had made the atmosphere milder , in fact it was almost warm , damply and feverishly warm .