a quarter to seven
A courtyard at the back separated it from the Avenue de la Tour-Maubourg . The house consisted of three storeys , and a ground-floor approached by a few steps . Fandor returned to the Esplanade des Invalides , and walked up and down under the trees for some time , watching the comings and goings of the neighbourhood . At a quarter to seven he had looked at his watch , and , not seeing any light in the first-floor rooms , the shutters of which were not yet closed , he concluded that the inmates had probably not come in . Just then Fandor saw an automobile , a very elegant limousine , draw up before M. de Naarboveck 's house . A man of a certain age descended from it , and vanished in the shadow of a doorway : the door had opened as the carriage stopped . `` That 's de Naarboveck , '' thought Fandor .