ten o’clock
At present , the two were staying at Biarritz , in a villa ; and Lady Monica , a girl of eighteen or nineteen , sometimes had the honour of going out with the Princesses , in the King 's motor . There were other privileged friends as well ; but the description of Lady Monica Vale , though painted with a colourless brush , was unmistakable . Casually I inquired the name of the house where Lady Vale-Avon and her daughter were staying , and having learned it , I made an excuse to escape from the lady with the nose . It was half-past ten o'clock , and a night flooded with moonlight . I strolled out , smoking a cigarette , and in ten minutes stood before the garden gate of the Villa Esmeralda . There were lights in three or four of the windows , sparkling among close-growing trees ; and I had not finished my second cigarette , when a carriage drove round the corner and stopped . I moved into the background .