midnight
Before that trio separated , the compact was completed . Aliaga practised against his friend the lesson he had preached to him -- that the end sanctifies all means . Scarce had Aliaga departed ere Juan de la Nuza entered ; for Uzeda , who sought to make the Inquisition his chief instrument of power , courted the friendship of all its officers . He readily promised to obtain the release of Fonseca ; and , in effect , it was but little after midnight when an order arrived at the prison for the release of Don Martin de Fonseca , accompanied by a note from the duke to the prisoner , full of affectionate professions , and requesting to see him the next morning . Late as the hour was , and in spite of the expostulations of the governor , who wished him to remain the night within the prison , in the hope to extract from him his secret , Fonseca no sooner received the order than he claimed and obtained his liberation . With emotions of joy and triumph , such as had never yet agitated his reckless and abandoned youth , the Infant of Spain bent his way towards the lonely house on the road to Fuencarral . He descended from his carriage when about a hundred yards from the abode , and proceeded on foot to the appointed place .