eight o'clock
Stephen Laverick was a bachelor -- his friends called him an incorrigible one . He had a small but pleasantly situated suite of rooms in Whitehall Court , looking out upon the river . His habits were almost monotonous in their regularity , and the morning following his late night in the city was no exception to the general rule . At eight o'clock , the valet attached to the suite knocked at his door and informed him that his bath was ready . He awoke at once from a sound sleep , sat up in bed , and remembered the events of the preceding evening . At first he was inclined to doubt that slowly stirring effort of memory . He was a man of unromantic temperament , unimaginative , and by no means of an adventurous turn of mind .