midnight
As they passed the place Madelinette shuddered , and she remembered Fournel 's cynical face as he left the house three months ago . She felt that it would not easily soften to mercy or look upon her trouble with a human eye , if once the will were in his hands . It was a silent journey , but Madame Marie asked no questions , and there was comfort in her unspoken sympathy . Five hours , and at midnight they arrived at the end of the first stage of their journey , at the village tavern of St. Stanislaus . Here Madame Marie urged Madelinette to stay and sleep , but this she refused to do , if horses could be got to go forward . The sight of two gold pieces made the thing possible in the landlord 's eyes , and Madame Marie urged no more , but found some refreshment , of which she gently insisted that Madelinette should partake . In another hour from their arrival they were on the road again , with the knowledge that Tardif had changed horses and gone forward four hours before , boasting as he went that when the bombshell he was carrying should burst , the country would stay awake o ' nights for a year .