nine
o'clock
I had taken the apartments for three months , and we had already lived in them two and found them sufficiently comfortable . The back room we used as a bedroom , and as we received but few friends , the two great leaves of old mahogany connecting the rooms , usually stood wide open . One morning , my wife being ill , I left her lying in bed and stepped into the parlour preparatory to going out for breakfast . It was late -- nine o'clock probably -- and I was hastening to leave , when I heard a sound behind me -- or did I merely feel a presence ? -- and , turning , saw a strange and totally unknown woman coming toward me from my wife 's room . As I had just left that room , and as there was no other way of entrance save through a door we always kept locked , I was so overpowered by my astonishment that I never thought of speaking or moving until she had passed me . Then I found voice , and calling out `` Madam ! ''