midnight
But he soon determined on one part of his plan . He would warn La Pommeraye himself . He would then have the rest of the night to plan his own escape ; and perhaps La Pommeraye might be able to help him out of his difficulty . He knew a dozen ways of entering and leaving the castle without being seen , and stealing in by one of them , he waited till midnight , when De Roberval , who was ever likely to be prowling about , would be almost sure to be at rest . Many of the rooms had secret passages leading to them from outside , and La Pommeraye 's was one of these . Etienne could traverse their windings as easily as he could the halls of the interior , and he resolved to seek an entrance to La Pommeraye 's room , and tell him the whole story . He found the bolt of the door after some groping about , but it had long remained unused , and required many vigorous pulls to make it move .