midnight
Instead , in lightning flashes he foresaw what must happen : his betrothed in the hands of the murderers ; the fair face that had smiled on him frozen with terror ; brave men , the fighters of Montauban , the defenders of Angely , strewn dead through the dark lanes of the city . And now a gust of passion , and now a shudder of fear , seized him ; and in any other assembly his agitation must have led to detection . But in that room were many twitching faces and trembling hands . Murder , cruel , midnight , and most foul , wrung even from the murderers her toll of horror . While some , to hide the nervousness they felt , babbled of what they would do , others betrayed by the intentness with which they awaited the signal , the dreadful anticipations that possessed their souls . Before he had formed any plan , a movement took place near the door . The stairs shook beneath the sudden trampling of feet , a voice cried `` De par le Roi !