eleven
o'clock
She could see it plainly by the dim light of the tiny oil-lamp that hung above the kneeling-stool at which she said her prayers . She had said them with great fervour to-night , and had gone to bed with the firm intention of repeating the last one over and over to herself till she fell asleep . But in this she had not succeeded . She had heard the bells at eleven o'clock and had been wide awake ; at that moment Stradella was stepping over the marble balustrade into the loggia . She tried to say her prayer again , but it was of no use at all ; she knew that he was standing there just outside the great closed window , waiting , and that to see him she had only to pass through her dressing-room , where Pina slept on a trestle-bed , which was taken away every morning . There was only one door to Ortensia 's bedroom , which was the last on that floor of the house ; for it was proper that a noble Venetian girl should be safely guarded , and every night the Senator locked both the outer doors of the sitting-room where she had her lessons , and he kept the key under his pillow . Pina and Ortensia were in prison together from ten o'clock at night till seven every morning , and the girl could not leave her own room without passing Pina .