seven o’clock
Roland read the letter twice , thought it over for a few moments , then rose suddenly , and , entering the First Consul 's study , handed it to him silently . The latter read it without betraying the slightest emotion , or even surprise ; then , with a laconism that was wholly Lacedæmonian , he said : `` Place the light . '' Then he gave the letter back to Roland . The next evening , at seven o'clock , the light shone in the window , and at five minutes past the hour , Roland in person was waiting at the little door of the garden . He had scarcely been there a moment when three blows were struck on the door after the manner of the free-masons ; first two strokes and then one . The door was opened immediately . A man wrapped in a cloak was sharply defined against the grayish atmosphere of the wintry night .