three hours after midnight
But not so with Quentin Durward . The knowledge that he alone was possessed of the means of distinguishing La Marck in the contest -- the recollection by whom that information had been communicated , and the fair augury which might be drawn from her conveying it to him -- the thought that his fortune had brought him to a most perilous and doubtful crisis indeed , but one where there was still , at least , a chance of his coming off triumphant -- banished every desire to sleep and strung his nerves with vigour which defied fatigue . Posted , by the King 's express order , on the extreme point between the French quarters and the town , a good way to the right of the suburb which we have mentioned , he sharpened his eye to penetrate the mass which lay before him , and excited his ears to catch the slightest sound which might announce any commotion in the beleaguered city . But its huge clocks had successively knelled three hours after midnight , and all continued still and silent as the grave . At length , and just when Quentin began to think the attack would be deferred till daybreak , and joyfully recollected that there would be then light enough to descry the Bar Sinister across the Fleur de lis of Orleans , he thought he heard in the city a humming murmur , like that of disturbed bees mustering for the defence of their hives . He listened -- the noise continued , but it was of a character so undistinguished by any peculiar or precise sound , that it might be the murmur of a wind arising among the boughs of a distant grove , or perhaps some stream , swollen by the late rain , which was discharging itself into the sluggish Maes with more than usual clamour . Quentin was prevented by these considerations from instantly giving the alarm , which , if done carelessly , would have been a heavy offence .