about midnight
Both sides shouted , `` Who comes there ? '' to which there was a simultaneous and eager answer , `` A friend , '' and each party passed its own way , only too glad to be rid of the other . Mary 's sigh of relief could be heard above even the wind and the owls , and her heart beat as if it had a task to finish within a certain time . After this they rode on as rapidly as they dared , and about midnight arrived at the inn where the relay of horses was awaiting them . -LSB- Illustration -RSB- The inn was a rambling old thatched-roofed structure , half mud , half wood , and all filth . There are many inns in England that are tidy enough , but this one was a little off the main road -- selected for that reason -- and the uncleanness was not the least of Mary 's trials that hard night . She had not tasted food since noon , and felt the keen hunger natural to youth and health such as hers , after twelve hours of fasting and eight hours of riding .