twelve o'clock
`` What a shrewd girl that must be ! '' said the Colonel . `` I beg your pardon , Colonel , '' said the man , not seeing the relevancy of this observation . `` Oh , nothing , '' said the Colonel , `` only _ I _ expect a visit to-morrow at twelve o'clock from a doubtful clergyman ; just hang about the lawn on the chance of my giving you a signal . '' Thus while Monckton was mounting his batteries , his victims were preparing defenses in a sort of general way , though they did not see their way so clear as the enemy did . Colonel Clifford 's drawing-room was a magnificent room , fifty feet long and thirty feet wide . A number of French windows opened on to a noble balcony , with three short flights of stone steps leading down to the lawn .