about
nine o’clock
Exhausted once more , he thought of asking the monks for hospitality , but did not do so . He went down , skirting the great silent refuge of peace belonging to the Benedictines , passed , sighing , before the closed door , which said in vain _ quieti et amicis _ , and at last reached the gate of Villa Mayda . The gardener came , half dressed , to open the gate , and was greatly astonished to see him . He said he had believed he was in prison , because a _ delegato _ and a policeman had been there to look for him at about nine o'clock . Indeed the _ Signora _ , the Professor 's daughter-in-law , had at once ordered the servants not to admit him if he returned , but the order had been angrily countermanded by the Professor himself , to the great joy of the gardener , who was as fond of Benedetto and of the master as he was averse to the _ Signora _ . Upon hearing this Benedetto would have departed at once had his strength allowed him . But he was not in a condition to go a hundred paces .