nine o'clock
I inquired . I believe if I had spoken French she would not have admitted me ; but , as I spoke English , she concluded I was a foreign teacher come on business connected with the pensionnat , and , even at that late hour , she let me in , without a word of reluctance , or a moment of hesitation . The next moment I sat in a cold , glittering salon , with porcelain stove , unlit , and gilded ornaments , and polished floor . A pendule on the mantel-piece struck nine o'clock . A quarter of an hour passed . How fast beat every pulse in my frame ! How I turned cold and hot by turns !