ten o’clock
He wrote page on page , feeling as though he dipped his pen in his own heart 's blood ; but when he came to read what he had written , it was no more what he had meant it to be than a Hortus Siccus is a living garden , or a mummy a live Prometheus . He wrote at last : ` I can not bear this banishment in nearness , and if I am not to see you I must go away . I have had a night of fever , and have not slept I dare not trust myself to write , but for pity 's sake let me have an answer by the messenger who brings this . ' He fixed in his mind ten o'clock as the earliest possible hour at which he could venture to have the note delivered , and until then he must needs have patience . When he went to place his missive in the hands of the concierge , with instructions for the time of its delivery , the servants had only just begun to stir about the house . He had come down great-coated and gloved , as if for an early walk , but the walk was no more than a pretext to allay some remotely imaginable suspicion on the part of the concierge . ` Imust leave this with you now , ' he said , ` because it must be delivered at ten o'clock precisely , and I shall probably not be able to return till later .