one o'clock
And yet some irresistible stimulus and curiosity drove him to prolong rather than to avoid the sorcery . Bianca was by no means fully aware of the power and of the strength of the sorcery which she was exercising on the Marchese . But she understood a great deal more about it than he did . And when , in making the appointment for him and the impresario to call on her at one o'clock , he had asked her if that was too early for her habits , and she had replied , that she was always afoot much earlier than that , Bianca had felt persuaded that he would be at the door at an earlier hour . And her experience , or her instinct , with reference to such matters had not deceived her . The quarter-past twelve had not struck , when the Diva heard a knock at the door of her apartment . Throwing the Line In the next instant Bianca heard the door of the room in which she was sitting opened very gently ; it was Gigia who opened it , so gently as to enable her mistress to keep her eyes on a book she held in her hand , apparently unconscious that she was not alone .