about six o’clock in the
evening
This archaeological digression -LRB- continuing the sketches of old Paris with which we began this history -RRB- enables us to picture to our minds the then appearance of this other corner of the old city , of which nothing now remains but Henri IV . 's addition to the Louvre , with its admirable bas-reliefs , now being rapidly annihilated . When the court heard that the queen was about to give an audience to Theodore de Beze and Chaudieu , presented by Admiral Coligny , all the courtiers who had the right of entrance to the reception hall , hastened thither to witness the interview . It was about six o'clock in the evening ; Coligny had just supped , and was using a toothpick as he came up the staircase of the Louvre between the two Reformers . The practice of using a toothpick was so inveterate a habit with the admiral that he was seen to do it on the battle-field while planning a retreat . `` Distrust the admiral 's toothpick , the _ No _ of the Connetable , and Catherine 's _ Yes _ , '' was a court proverb of that day . After the Saint-Bartholomew the populace made a horrible jest on the body of Coligny , which hung for three days at Montfaucon , by putting a grotesque toothpick into his mouth .