nine o'clock
It was not a trick of heartless coquetry -- for that I gave her credit . Yet the change had been so swift and sudden that it was difficult to assign any other reason for it . So far as I was concerned I was sure my affair was utterly hopeless ; but the air of the Italian campaign would doubtless cure me , and I almost caught myself wishing that I had lost the game last night and was free to turn my horse 's head where I listed . In this disjointed thought I passed some time , and it was well after nine o'clock that Diane came forth from her room . Through the window I saw her descending the stair , and , not wishing to intrude , withdrew to the extreme end of the walk , where I began to be interested in the operations of a spider weaving his web in a rose bush . I could , however , see into the room , and observed Diane stop near the table , hesitate a little , and then sit down . Pechaud began to flutter around her , but after a little she rose , and coming to the window looked straight out at me .