twelve o'clock
Lose the Marchese Lamberto ! No , per Bacco ! there are other people , beside the good folks of the city of Ravenna , who ca n't afford to lose the Marchese Lamberto just yet ! '' An Attorney-at-law in the Papal States At a little after twelve o'clock on that same Ash Wednesday morning , a servant in the Castelmare livery brought a verbal message to the `` studio '' of Signor Giovacchino Fortini , `` procurators , '' -- attorney-at-law , as we should say , -- requesting that gentleman to step as far as the Palazzo Castelmare , as the Marchese would be glad to speak with him . The message was not one calculated to excite any surprise either in the servant who carried it , or in Signor Fortini himself . Signor Giovacchino was , and had been for many years , the confidential lawyer of the Castelmare family . And the various business connected with large landed possessions made frequent conferences necessary between the lawyer and such a client as the Marchese , who , among his other activities , had always been active in the management and care of his estates .