ten o'clock
Ste. Marie received a note from Captain Stewart during the day , reminding him that he was to come to the rue du Faubourg St. Honoré that evening , and asking him to come early , at ten or thereabouts , so that the two could have a comfortable chat before any one else turned up . Ste. Marie had about decided not to go at all , but the courtesy of this special invitation from Miss Benham 's uncle made it rather impossible for him to stay away . He tried to persuade Hartley to follow him on later in the evening , but that gentleman flatly refused and went away to dine with some English friends at Armenonville . So Ste. Marie , in a vile temper , dined quite alone at Lavenue 's , beside the Gare Montparnasse , and toward ten o'clock drove across the river to the rue du Faubourg . Captain Stewart 's flat was up five stories , at the top of the building in which it was located , and so , well above the noises of the street . Ste. Marie went up in the automatic lift , and at the door above his host met him in person , saying that the one servant he kept was busy making preparations in the kitchen beyond . They entered a large room , long but comparatively shallow , in shape not unlike the sitting-room in the rue d'Assas , but very much bigger , and Ste. Marie uttered an exclamation of surprise and pleasure , for he had never before seen an interior anything like this .