midnight
Fate had caught him now , and there was no escape . Instinctively , he was sure that the Baroness had come in search of Sabina , and would not leave the house till she had found her , do what he might . The Baroness had been called to the telephone five minutes after Volterra had gone out with the porter , leaving word that he was going to the Palazzo Conti and would be back within two hours . The message she received was from the Russian Embassy , and informed her that the dowager Princess Conti had arrived at midnight , was the guest of the Ambassador , and wished her daughter Sabina to come and see her between eleven and twelve o'clock . In trembling tones the Baroness had succeeded in saying that Sabina should obey , and had rung off the connection at once . Then , for the first time in her life , she had felt for a moment as if she were going to faint . The facts , which were unknown to her , were simple enough .