eight o’clock
As they went back to the house it seemed to her that she and Gaspare talked together . And yet they spoke no words . Neither Artois nor the Marchesino visited the island during the days that elapsed before the Festa of the Madonna del Carmine . But Artois wrote to tell Hermione that the Marchesino had accepted his invitation , and that he hoped she and Vere would be at the Hotel des Etrangers punctually by eight o'clock on the night of the sixteenth . He wrote cordially , but a little formally , and did not add any gossip or any remarks about his work to the few sentences connected with the projected expedition . And Hermione replied as briefly to his note . Usually , when she wrote to Artois , her pen flew , and eager thoughts , born of the thought of him , floated into her mind .