about nine o’clock
Finally and conclusively , he had detected the note of danger outside and inside the house ; and now as he began to cross the square it touched him again intimately . He looked up at the darkened sky . A black cloud was moving slowly overhead , high above the roof of the late Sir Charles Abingdon ; and as he watched its stealthy approach it seemed to Paul Harley to be the symbol of that dread in which latterly Sir Charles 's life had lain , beneath which he had died , and which now was stretching out , mysterious and menacing , over himself . At about nine o'clock on the same evening , a man stood at a large window which overlooked Piccadilly and the Green Park . The room to which the window belonged was justly considered one of the notable sights of London and doubtless would have received suitable mention in the `` Blue Guide '' had the room been accessible to the general public . It was , on the contrary , accessible only to the personal friends of Mr. Nicol Brinn . As Mr. Nicol Brinn had a rarely critical taste in friendship , none but a fortunate few had seen the long room with its two large windows overlooking Piccadilly .