nine o'clock in the morning
The Baroness Volterra drove to the Palazzo Conti in the heart of Rome at nine o'clock in the morning , to be sure of finding Donna Clementina at home . She had tried twice to telephone , on the previous afternoon , but the central office had answered that `` the communication was interrupted . '' She was very anxious to see Clementina at once , in order to get her support for a new and complicated charity . She only wanted the name , and expected nothing else , for the Conti had very little ready money , though they still lived as if they were rich .