five o'clock in the afternoon
The shadow of this headdress , in the twilight , gave him the sensation of being in a cloister , brought back memories of silent , holy villages , dead quarters enclosed and buried in some quiet corner of a bustling town . The hours of eating were also regulated . His instructions in this regard were short and explicit , for the weakened state of his stomach no longer permitted him to absorb heavy or varied foods . In winter , at five o'clock in the afternoon , when the day was drawing to a close , he breakfasted on two boiled eggs , toast and tea . At eleven o'clock he dined . During the night he drank coffee , and sometimes tea and wine , and at five o'clock in the morning , before retiring , he supped again lightly . His meals , which were planned and ordered once for all at the beginning of each season , were served him on a table in the middle of a small room separated from his study by a padded corridor , hermetically sealed so as to permit neither sound nor odor to filter into either of the two rooms it joined .