about nine o'clock
* * * * * `` Whatever happens , whatever you are told , do not show any surprise . Take up your customary life again as though it had never been interrupted , as though nothing had happened since the night of December 31st . '' Frederick-Christian , the victim of a racking headache , read and reread these strange mysterious words , without in the least understanding their meaning . After a heavy sleep , he had wakened about nine o'clock to find himself lying comfortably in his own bed at the Royal Palace . At first he thought it was part of his nightmare , that he was dreaming , but as he became more fully awake , he was obliged to admit the evidence of his senses . At this moment , he suddenly caught sight of the crumpled letter pinned to his counterpane ; opening it , he read the lines that Fandor had hurriedly pencilled the night before . In spite of his exhaustion and stiffness , he sprang out of bed and was about to ring for a servant when a feeling of caution came over him .