midnight
My strength , however , enabled me to sit up at my window ; and even in this slight pleasure my wearied senses found enjoyment , after the tedious hours of a sickbed . The evening was calm , and for the season mild and summerlike . The shrubs were putting forth their first leaves , and around the marble fountains the spring flowers were already showing signs of blossom . The setting sun made the tall shadows of the ancient beech-trees stretch across the wide court , where all was still as at midnight . No inhabitant of the Palace was about ; not a servant moved , not a footstep was heard . It was a moment of such perfect stillness as leads the mind to reverie ; and my thoughts wandered away to that distant time when gay cavaliers and stately dames trod those spacious terraces , -- when tales of chivalry and love mingled with the plashing sounds of those bright fountains , and the fair moon looked down on more lovely forms than even those graceful marbles around . I fancied the time when the horn of the chasseur was heard-echoing through those vast courts , its last notes lost in the merry voices of the cortege round the monarch .