twelve
o’clock of November 14, 1870
He was allowed to have a musical instrument and books , and was allowed to write letters , to drink wine , and to smoke . By the terms of the agreement , the only relations he could have with the outer world were by a little window made purposely for that object . He might have anything he wanted -- books , music , wine , and so on -- in any quantity he desired by writing an order , but could only receive them through the window . The agreement provided for every detail and every trifle that would make his imprisonment strictly solitary , and bound the young man to stay there _ exactly _ fifteen years , beginning from twelve o'clock of November 14 , 1870 , and ending at twelve o'clock of November 14 , 1885 . The slightest attempt on his part to break the conditions , if only two minutes before the end , released the banker from the obligation to pay him two millions . For the first year of his confinement , as far as one could judge from his brief notes , the prisoner suffered severely from loneliness and depression . The sounds of the piano could be heard continually day and night from his lodge .