about eight o'clock in the evening
Sire , I repeat , you have no present occasion for my services ; besides , if your majesty should have any need of me , you would know where to find me . '' `` Very well , '' said the king ; and he granted him his leave of absence . We shall not look for D'Artagnan , therefore , at Fontainebleau , for this would be quite useless ; but , with the permission of our readers , we shall follow him to the Rue des Lombards , where he was located at the sign of the `` Pilon d'Or , '' in the house of our old friend Planchet . It was about eight o'clock in the evening , and the weather was exceedingly warm ; there was only one window open , and that one belonging to a room on the entresol . A perfume of spices , mingled with another perfume less exotic , but more penetrating , namely , that which arose from the street , ascended to salute the nostrils of the musketeer . D'Artagnan , reclining upon an immense straight-backed chair , with his legs not stretched out , but simply placed upon a stool , formed an angle of the most obtuse form that could possibly be seen . Both his arms were crossed over his head , his head reclining upon his left shoulder , like Alexander the Great .