About four o'clock in the afternoon
`` I shall pray for you , Albert , '' whispered Marie , `` that you may come safely through every danger . I hate all this fighting and bloodshed , and wish the country could be at peace . '' `` It will be soon , '' I answered , and then for a while we journeyed in silence . About four o'clock in the afternoon we reached a large village , and the driver pulled up at the principal inn . This was the end of his stage , and though we offered him a handsome sum of money he refused to go a yard farther . He declared that his horses required rest , which was true enough , and that his master had ordered him to return to St. Denis in the morning . `` We must make the best of it , '' exclaimed Madame Coutance ; `` I daresay we can obtain some sort of accommodation for the night . ''