eleven o'clock
BOOK 1 . Near eleven o'clock , one evening in the month of May , a man about fifty years of age , well formed , and of noble carriage , stepped from a coupe in the courtyard of a small hotel in the Rue Barbet-de-Jouy . He ascended , with the walk of a master , the steps leading to the entrance , to the hall where several servants awaited him . One of them followed him into an elegant study on the first floor , which communicated with a handsome bedroom , separated from it by a curtained arch . The valet arranged the fire , raised the lamps in both rooms , and was about to retire , when his master spoke : `` Has my son returned home ? ''