midnight
They were talking together in a low voice . One of them gave a laugh as Martin passed . He recognized the voice as that of a friend -- a young Cossack officer who had lunched with him two days earlier . Soon after midnight he made his way down the steep Bednarska . He had found out that the Bukaty Palace was surrounded ; had seen the light filtering through the dripping panes of the conservatory . His father was probably sitting in the great drawing-room alone , before the wood-fire , meditating over the failure which he must have realized by now from a note hurriedly sent by one of the few servants whom they could trust . Martin knew that Wanda had gone .