eleven o’clock
Among the guests were the _ procureur-du-roi _ and the attorney-general . Some lively discussions prolonged the party till a late hour . The company played whist and backgammon , a favorite game with the clergy . Toward eleven o'clock the _ procureur-du-roi _ walked out upon the upper terrace . From the spot where he stood he saw a light on that island to which , on a certain evening , the attention of the bishop and the Abbe Gabriel had been drawn , -- Veronique 's `` Ile de France , '' -- and the gleam recalled to the _ procureur 's _ mind the unexplained mysteries of the Tascheron crime . Then , reflecting that there could be no legitimate reason for a fire on that lonely island in the river at that time of night , an idea , which had already struck the bishop and the secretary , darted into his mind with the suddenness and brilliancy of the flame itself which was shining in the distance . `` We have all been fools ! ''