Eight o'clock
`` Because I have to go , and she might need a protector . '' The stranger said nothing , but he nodded , and throwing off his black coat , set to work vigorously rubbing down his travel-stained horse . It was the morning after the guardsman had returned to his duties . Eight o'clock had struck on the great clock of Versailles , and it was almost time for the monarch to rise . Through all the long corridors and frescoed passages of the monster palace there was a subdued hum and rustle , with a low muffled stir of preparation , for the rising of the king was a great state function in which many had a part to play . A servant with a steaming silver saucer hurried past , bearing it to Monsieur de St. Quentin , the state barber . Others , with clothes thrown over their arms , bustled down the passage which led to the ante-chamber .