seven o’clock
`` You are quite right , Hugh ! The whole affair is a tangled mystery . But the first point we must establish before we commence to investigate is -- who is Mademoiselle of Monte Carlo ? '' Just after seven o'clock that same evening young Henfrey and his friend Brock met in the small lounge of the Hotel des Palmiers , a rather obscure little establishment in the Avenue de la Costa , behind the Gardens , much frequented by the habitues of the Rooms who know Monte Carlo and prefer the little place to life at the Paris , the Hermitage , and the Riviera Palace , or the Gallia , up at Beausoleil . The Palmiers was a place where one met a merry cosmopolitan crowd , but where the cocotte in her bright plumage was absent -- an advantage which only the male habitue of Monte Carlo can fully realize . The eternal feminine is always so very much in evidence around the Casino , and the most smartly dressed woman whom one might easily take for the wife of an eminent politician or financier will deplore her bad luck and beg for `` a little loan . '' `` Well , '' said Hugh as his friend came down from his room to the lounge , `` I suppose we ought to be going -- eh ?