about five o’clock
Helga had learnt her lesson well enough to entertain the visitor until Rudolf appeared . She was full of apologies for my absence , protesting that she could in no way explain it ; neither could she so much as conjecture what was the king 's business with her husband . She played the dutiful wife whose virtue was obedience , whose greatest sin would be an indiscreet prying into what it was not her part to know . `` I know no more , '' she said , `` than that Fritz wrote to me to expect the king and him at about five o'clock , and to be ready to let them in by the window , as the king did not wish the servants to be aware of his presence . '' The king came and greeted Helsing most graciously . The tragedy and comedy of these busy days were strangely mingled ; even now I can hardly help smiling when I picture Rudolf , with grave lips , but that distant twinkle in his eye -LRB- I swear he enjoyed the sport -RRB- , sitting down by the old chancellor in the darkest corner of the room , covering him with flattery , hinting at most strange things , deploring a secret obstacle to immediate confidence , promising that to-morrow , at latest , he would seek the advice of the wisest and most tried of his counselors , appealing to the chancellor 's loyalty to trust him till then . Helsing , blinking through his spectacles , followed with devout attention the long narrative that told nothing , and the urgent exhortation that masked a trick .