ten o'clock
`` It shall not be permitted , '' I heard the soldier reply , as they reached the hall below . `` It has impressed her mind for some reason -- '' the doctor went on , by way evidently of soothing explanation , and then the distance made it impossible for me to hear more . At dinner Dr. Silence was still absent , on the public plea of a headache , and though food was sent to his room , I am inclined to believe he did not touch it , but spent the entire time fasting . We retired early , desiring that the household should do likewise , and I must confess that at ten o'clock when I bid my host a temporary good-night , and sought my room to make what mental preparation I could , I realised in no very pleasant fashion that it was a singular and formidable assignation , this midnight meeting in the laundry building , and that there were moments in every adventure of life when a wise man , and one who knew his own limitations , owed it to his dignity to withdraw discreetly . And , but for the character of our leader , I probably should have then and there offered the best excuse I could think of , and have allowed myself quietly to fall asleep and wait for an exciting story in the morning of what had happened . But with a man like John Silence , such a lapse was out of the question , and I sat before my fire counting the minutes and doing everything I could think of to fortify my resolution and fasten my will at the point where I could be reasonably sure that my self-control would hold against all attacks of men , devils , or elementals . At a quarter before midnight , clad in a heavy ulster , and with slippered feet , I crept cautiously from my room and stole down the passage to the top of the stairs .