nine o'clock
I think I should kill any man who came between us . '' There was a counter-attraction in Pall Mall -- a rival to Marlborough House , opposite which , ranged along the curb , a number of persons are usually waiting on the chance of seeing the Prince drive out . The rival establishment was the shop of Lamb and Drummond , picture dealers and engravers to Her Majesty . Since nine o'clock that morning , in the blazing May sunshine , there had been a little crowd before the plate glass window , behind which the firm had kindly exposed their latest prize to the public gaze . Newspaper men had been admitted to a private view of the picture , and for a couple of days previous the papers had contained paragraphs in reference to the coming exhibition . Rembrandts are by no means uncommon , nor do all command high prices ; but this particular one , which Martin Von Whele had unearthed in Paris , was conceded to be the finest canvas that the master-artist 's brush had produced . It was the typical London crowd , very much mixed .